Focusing on the life of a controversial and influential figure, the book delves into the complexities of Mailer's character through insights from his friends, family, and critics. Mary Dearborn's access to these individuals enriches the narrative, revealing both his significant achievements and infamous missteps. The story captures the essence of Mailer’s impact on American literature and culture, illustrating how his life reflects broader societal themes and conflicts of the era.
Incorporating fascinating new research, Mary Dearborn’s revelatory investigation of Hemingway’s life and work substantially deepens our understanding of the artist and the man. A St. Louis Post Dispatch Best Book of the Year The “most fully faceted portrait of Hemingway now available” (The Washington Post) draws on a wide array of never-before-used material, resulting in the most nuanced biography to date of this complex, enigmatic artist. Considered in his time the greatest living American writer, Hemingway was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize whose personal demons undid him in the end, and whose novels and stories have influenced the writing of fiction for generations after his death.