“Go take a flying leap if you came here to flatter me.” It’s easy to imagine Hemingway at his desk, reacting with his fabled aggression when interrupted for advice—as he does here. Known for his globetrotting; passion for bullfighting, fishing, and hunting; fascination with war; and feuds with rivals like Gertrude Stein, he set the 20th-century template for the artist as an adventurer and man of action. Kirk Curnutt, a professor and member of the board of directors of the Ernest Hemingway Society, and multi-award-winning author John Updike arrange a mesmerizing meeting with this prickly American genius.
