Yes, this is what the weak dollar and subprime loan disaster have come to: discounts at Harry’s Bar. Can you imagine the final line of A Moveable Feast were it written today? “But this is how Venice was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy and many fine American homes were in foreclosure and we were enjoying 20 percent off at Harry’s Bar.”

Continue reading >>

Depending on your perspective, mojitos are either all the rage and part of “mint’s moment” or as dated as “Sex and the City” reruns. I polished off a too-sweet-for-my-taste mojito last night at San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado, as evidenced by this photo of my empty glass, mainly because the drink set me back $11 and I couldn’t stand the idea of wasting it. I like the occasional mojito, but I’ve been enjoying the mojito press coverage even more, and I particularly liked this piece in the Wall Street Journal focusing on Ernest Hemingway’s relationship—or lack thereof—with the drink. I thought it was a given that Hemingway tossed back mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana. Tourists flock to the bar for that very reason.

Continue reading >>

In a World Hum story about visiting Ernest Hemingway’s old Key West house, Doug Mack noted that each one of the dozens of cats residing there has “a calm but vaguely sinister look on its face, creating a mildly Hitchcockian scene.” That scene—made all the more Hitchcockian because some of the cats famously have six toes—has been at the center of a controversy ever since the USDA claimed the historic site is an “exhibitor” of cats and requires a special license. But now, the house has won some support from the Key West City Commission. 

Continue reading >>

Terry McDonell, a Sports Illustrated editor who has played key roles at Outside and Men’s Journal, recently told Sports Business Journal: “I got a really interesting book called Ernest Hemingway on Writing. I’ve given about 100 of those away. I find that if you’re stuck on a story, you can just read around in there and find something that jump-starts you. So, it’s useful. I’m not sure what the magic is, but it seems to work for everybody that I give it to.” Library Journal described the 1984 title edited by Larry W. Phillips this way: “It’s not ‘how-to’ instructional advice but rather Ernesto’s impressions on writing and those who do it.” (Via Romenesko)

Related on World Hum:
* I Still Don’t Know for Whom the Bell Tolls
* Recalling Earnest Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast’

Like so many other American college students over the years, I read A Moveable Feast on my first trip to Europe, seduced by Hemingway’s rendering of bohemian Paris in the ‘20s. I recall wandering around the city munching pommes frites and imagining what it would have been like to stop by 27 rue de Fleurus to shoot the breeze with “Miss Stein.” (I settled for a visit to her gravestone at Père Lachaise.) And yet, by the time I reached the famous final line of “A Moveable Feast”—“But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy”—I’d had enough of Hemingway’s ceaseless romanticizing. Was he really that happy? So when I saw that Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley considers the book in today’s paper, I was curious to read his thoughts on it.

Continue reading >>

The United States Department of Agriculture has sued The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida, claiming that Hemingway’s famous six-toed cats that roam the grounds need to be licensed. According to a story in the Guardian, “The US department of agriculture wants to fine the museum’s owners up to $200 (£107) a day for ‘exhibiting’ the animals without a licence, according to a lawsuit filed in Miami, but the trustees insist that tourists pay to see the house, of which the cats are merely residents.” The cats are allegedly descendents of Snow White, who was given to Hemingway by a ship’s captain in 1935. “About half of the Hemingway cats are polydactyl, or mitten cats, meaning they have extra toes on their front or back paws,” writes the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe. “Often named after actors, artists and philosophers, current popular residents include Archibald MacLeish, Pablo Picasso and Simone de Beauvoir.”

Good news for literary-minded preservationists: Ernest Hemingway’s 40-foot fishing boat, Pilar, which has been suffering damage from termites and humidity on his old farm outside Havana, is about to be restored. American conservationists made the announcement last week, although Cuba will pay for the work so that no U.S. organizations run afoul of (ridiculous) U.S. trade sanctions. Hemingway used the boat for outings that inspired his classic novella, “The Old Man and the Sea.” CNN International has details.

Too few travel-themed movies capture the spirit of travel as we see it at World Hum. “Before Sunrise” did. So, too, did “The Motorcycle Diaries.” This new film in limited release, Americano, sounds like it has potential. It focuses on a recent college graduate played by Joshua Jackson who is contemplating his future as his trip to Europe winds down during Pamplona’s San Fermin festival. Interestingly, actors in the movie were filmed as they participated in the actual Running of the Bulls.  In a three-paragraph review in today’s Los Angeles Times, critic Kevin Crust praises the film: “Writer-director Kevin Noland effectively utilizes his fine young cast and the natural beauty and rich culture of northern Spain in amiably posing timeless questions of youth.”

Continue reading >>

Interesting note in a USA Today story yesterday about “The Sopranos”: Star James Gandolfini, the article mentions in an aside, “is still toying with playing Ernest Hemingway in a biopic, though he’s finding it a long and difficult process to set up the project at a studio.” Apparently there’s been talk of a Hemingway project for some time. This 2004 article suggested the film, about Hemingway’s romance with journalist Marth Gellhorn, would be made last year. It also noted Gandolfini’s involvement with The Hemingway Preservation Foundation and its efforts to restore Hemingway’s Cuba home. 

The ever-compelling public radio show “The World” has been airing stories on Cuba all this week. Among the topics covered: Cuba’s classic cars, Hemingway on the island and a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Lazarus. The show’s site includes photos of Hemingway’s Finca Vigía and a report on restoration efforts, which have been hampered by—of course—politics.

C-SPAN2’s Book TV will feature 45 minutes this evening (Saturday) on Hemingway’s Hurricane: The Great Florida Keys Storm of 1935. Author Phil Scott chronicles the storm that hit the keys with 200 mph winds and killed more than 400 people. Hemingway weathered the storm in Key West and later concluded that more could have been done to prevent the deaths. His writing about that, some believe, led to his appearance on the FBI watch list. Scott’s Book TV appearance begins at 9 p.m. EST.

Continue reading >>

I hadn’t heard of Chalk’s Ocean Airways until this week, with the news that a twin-engine Mallard seaplane it operated crashed off Miami on Monday, killing at least 19 people on board. It turns out the company and its planes have a long, storied history. The Florida carrier claims to be the world’s oldest surviving airline, and according to a fine story in the Palm Beach Post, Ernest Hemingway was once a regular passenger on flights to the island of Bimini. The Post story opens with a description of a Mallard taking off.

Continue reading >>