Ernest Hemingway
Winning hearts and minds: propaganda of the Spanish Civil War
The Republican cause may have been championed by the world’s leading poets, novelists and photojournalists, but in a largely illiterate society it was dramatic posters that mattered most
An alternative Paris: Château Rouge, by Amit Chaudhuri, reviewed
A writer, newly arrived in France on a visiting fellowship, is determined to explore the capital with fresh eyes
‘A lost generation’: My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein, by Deborah Levy, reviewed
Stein coined the phrase to describe the disillusioned writers and artists she mentored – but it is the woman herself who proves most elusive
Frederic Prokosch – the man who seemed to know everyone
A beguiling memoir boasts intimate encounters with many of the 20th century’s most celebrated writers – but should we believe a word of it?
The mystifying cult status of Gertrude Stein
The American author (of mostly unreadable books) was revered in 1920s Paris and became an international celebrity – though no one was quite sure why
Evil geniuses
Does knowledge of the wrongs committed by Caravaggio, Picasso, Roman Polanski and other ‘monsters’ condition our response to their art, wonders Claire Dederer
High life
Harvard man Russell Seitz has sent me an extraordinary present as an object lesson in ‘what a magazine should be…
Low life
‘They were living at le Grau du Roi then and the hotel was on a canal that ran from the…
High life
Gstaad This is my last week in the Alps and I’m trying to get it all in – skiing, cross-country,…
The importance of being earnest
Ken Burns made his name in 1990 with The Civil War, the justly celebrated 11-and-a-half-hour documentary series that gave America’s…
High life
It takes a very good writer to produce prose that provokes an emotional response in a reader, even when it…
High life
Gstaad I have never experienced such a long, continuous blizzard, and I’ve been coming here for 63 years. The ski…
Wild life
Laikipia In one of Kenya farmer Karen Blixen’s short stories, a character says: ‘I know of a cure for everything:…
High life
Gstaad That’s all we needed in a great year: copyright has expired on The Great Gatsby. Some Fitzgerald wannabe has…
High life
Gstaad Martha Gellhorn was a long-legged blonde American writer and journalist who became Papa Hemingway’s third and penultimate wife. She…
Legion of Babel
During the Spanish civil war of 1936 to 1939, 35,000 men and women from around the world volunteered to fight…
Apocalypse in East Finchley
I was mansplaining to my wife earlier this week about why we ought to be very, very concerned by the…
The unlikely beauty of urinals
In 1966, just as he was becoming famous, Michael Caine met John Wayne. The Holly-wood veteran offered him some advice:…
The softer side of Hemingway
I didn’t like it, and then I did like it. But a writer’s job is to tell the truth, as…
A biographer’s tale: beware of meeting your literary heroes
Germaine Greer described biographers as ‘vultures’. I prefer to think of myself as a version of Philip Marlowe or Sam…
Meeting the last Cuban fisherman to have known Ernest Hemingway
In Havana, one week before President Obama unthawed half a century of cold relations with Cuba, I talked to the…
Taki: The truth about Ernest Hemingway
Gstaad When the snow finally stopped, the sublime, silent stars above made for dramatic viewing. Against silhouetted Alpine peaks, starry…
High life
Write about things you really know was the advice Papa Hemingway offered wannabe writers, so here goes: the French Open…
Blood, sand and tragedy in Papa Hemingway and Ava Gardner country
Let’s take it from the top: Seville is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The capital of Andalusia,…
High life
An operation on my hand after a karate injury has had me reading more than usual. I even attempted Don…
