The Hemingway Log: A Chronology of His Life and Times.

Mellette, Justin

The Hemingway Log: A Chronology of His Life and Times. By Brewster Chamberlin. Lawrence: U P of Kansas, 2015. 408 pp. $39.95.

One might think that nearly a half-century after Carlos Baker published his authorized biography of Ernest Hemingway, our understanding of the author's tumultuous life would have reached a critical apex. Indeed, with the ongoing publication of The Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway, a project which will span decades and a generation of scholars before its completion, as well as shorter biographical works focusing on specific aspects of the author's life--such as his deep commitment to the sea and his beloved Pilar, as explored in Paul Hendrickson's Hemingway's Boat (2012)--it might seem that his life had been thoroughly and exhaustively analyzed. With this in mind, the appearance of Brewster Chamberlin's The Hemingway Log might seem curious to some and could easily--and mistakenly--be cast aside as yet another book beating the dead horse that is Hemingway biographical studies.

While Chamberlin's prose is fluid, lucid, perspicacious, and frequently humorous and incisive, The Hemingway Log, in its author's words, is "meant to be a resource for researchers working on Hemingway and related subjects; it is not meant to be a biography," and as such, contains "minutia not found in biographies and other forms of textual explication" (1). In this vein, Chamberlin sets out his work's parameters clearly, noting, "This chronology makes no pretense at being either complete or exhaustive" (1) in the opening line of his introductory note. What the chronology does provide, however, is a veritable daybook of Hemingway's life, with useful contextual information provided chronologically. Chamberlin notes that the project had its roots as a means to "assist in identifying places, dates, and people in the hundreds of Hemingway-related photographs in the collections of the Key West Art and Historical Society and the Bruce Family Archives in Key West" (1).

The version we have now, however, provides a consummate resource and guide to Hemingway's life, in an accessible, easy-to-read format. Its contents run from 1835 (the birth of Mark Twain) through 2013 (the publication of the second volume of The Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway). The inclusion of material from before and after Hemingway's death--we are all aware of how prolific he has been from the grave--usefully contextualizes his biography as well as his ongoing critical and popular legacy. One of the most useful narrative decisions Chamberlin makes is the inclusion at the start of each year (starting with Hemingway's birth in 1899) of that year's Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, as well as a list of all other major works published (these occasionally come with an amusing, if not quite entirely sourced, aside, as in his note for 1938 "For some arcane reason, the Swedish Academy awards Pearl S. Buck (United States) the Nobel Prize for Literature) and 1939: "Perhaps knowing something about Soviet plans to invade Finland, the Swedish Academy awards Frans Emil Sillanpaa of that country the Nobel Prize for Literature" (207).

In addition to literary history, Chamberlin includes important historical events; these come in handy when charting Hemingway's movements during World War II. While the 'liberation' of the Ritz bar is an oft-cited aspect of Hemingway lore, Chamberlin's chronology provides a useful guide for readers curious about his movements in relation to the war at large. In addition, Chamberlin includes nearly one thousand footnotes over the course of the work that are largely unobtrusive, instead helpfully pointing readers to his sources or, in particular cases, explaining why he decided on a particular date for an event when the pre-existing record includes a conflict. While Chamberlin himself perhaps undersells his work's appeal to popular readers, it is likely that the chronology will prove most useful for scholars; in particular, the chronology serves as a helpful accompaniment to the Hemingway Letters Project, helping to flesh out the cultural and historical context of Hemingway's life.

Without taking away from the convenience the chronology will provide scholars charting Hemingway's life, perhaps its greatest virtue is the detail provided for events after Hemingway's death; for example, in the note for 3 July, a day after the author's suicide, Chamberlin writes "Despite Mary's press release stating that it was an accident, the notion of suicide appears in the press immediately" (325), accompanied by helpful citations to articles by Earl R. Adams (whose piece in the Key West Citizen would likely be easy to overlook) and John R. Bittner. From there, Chamberlin includes quotations from letters written by the likes of John Dos Passos--"Until I read of his poor death I didn't realize how fond I'd been of the old Monster"--and Elizabeth Bishop--"I feel awful about the Hemingway suicide; it seems to be the last thing he should have done, somehow" (326). He also includes notes about various events and remembrances that illuminate the early days of evaluating and displaying the authors legacy, including an exhibit in Key West for National Library Week (10 April 1962), the establishment of El Museo Ernest Hemingway en Cuba at the Finca Vigia (July 1963), and the opening of the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West (8 February 1964). In addition, it provides a useful summary of the onset of posthumous publications, such as his writing for the Toronto Star, published as The Wild Years (December 1962), and the first sections of A Moveable Feast, published in Life (10 April 1964), culminating in the volume's final entry on the second volume of The Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway.

It bears noting that Chamberlin's own opinions do at times make an appearance; in the introductory note, he writes "the chronology makes no attempt to analyze or evaluate Hemingway's work, a task best left to those trained in such matters, though the author's opinions may creep into the entries from time to time" (1). This latter statement particularly comes to fruition in his discussions of the posthumous work. For example, he notes "Scribner's publishes 'The Sea Book' as Islands in the Stream, with a preface by Mary saying the book is all Ernest, which is a lie since she and Scribner's editors heavily edited it and in any case EH would not have published it in this form"(332). Whether or not Hemingway would have wanted the book published is an issue well-worn at this point and should not negate the fact that scholars have found meaningful ways to discuss Islands in the Stream and the rest of Hemingway's posthumous oeuvre.

Chamberlin closes his work with a number of appendices which could prove useful to those curious about some specific moments of Hemingway's biography, such as his brawl with Wallace Stevens in February 1936 and his first meeting Martha Gellhorn. Chamberlin provides a brief summary of each event, which, while not quite clarifying the muddled dates, does serve as a useful reminder of the ways in which the Hemingway mythos and legend so frequently blurs with the factual biography. As Chamberlin himself notes in a comment about the fight with Stevens, and that serves as a useful summation of his goals for the chronology, "Some readers might wonder whether this whole thing is unnecessary nitpicking by a cranky semi-academic who no doubt spends too much time indulging himself in such efforts. But the lives of women and men who have made significant contributions to their cultures are important enough to get them right. Truth does matter, and it is not fiction, despite the efforts of some biographers" (355). Facts do matter, and Chamberlins The Hemingway Log should prove a valuable resource for continuing scholarly work on Hemingway.

Justin Mellette

Penn State, University Park