“when he was lying, he was more interesting than many men telling a story truly.” – Ernest Hemingway

28 Wednesday Dec 2011

Tags

elegant prose, f scott fitzgerald, ford maddox ford, gertrude stein, literary lions, moveable feast

Darlings – Tired of feeling guilty about reading gossip magazines when you know deep down, you’re a deeply, cultured, intellectual sort? Go out and get yourself a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast toute de suite. I’ve never read more elegant prose in my life. Hemingway offers the added treat of shameless name-dropping and unencumbered critiques of some of our favorite 20th century literary lions. His friend and fellow writer Ford Madox Ford he memorializes as “when he was lying, he was more interesting than many men telling a story truly.” Some may remember that Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist and editor of The English Review as well as the Transatlantic Review, but thanks to Hemingway, he will also be remembered as a most interesting man.

Wait until you read what Hemingway had to say about Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Mon Dieu. I can’t go into it here because that would spoil the fun of reading the book. So for this in-between week when you actually have some free time and can’t decide what to do with the bookstore gift card your family member who didn’t know what to give you gave you, please go immediately to Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com and click on Paris Adieu by moi-même (myself). After you’ve whet your palate with that tasty bon bon, treat yourself to A Moveable Feast and get ready to dig into the juiciest gossip this side of the Left Bank. When people ask what you’re reading, you’ll say “Hemingway,” and feel fabulous about starting off 2012 well.