The first Hemingway I read voluntarily was “A Farewell to Arms” and I was completely surprised. Everyone had led me to believe he was just some crazy drunk guy who went to bullfights and hated women, but I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard reading a book as I did at the end of “Farewell.”

And yes, I am immediately suspect of anyone who claims to have an authoritative opinion about something they can’t spell. Something about it doesn’t quite jell.

Scott,

We didn’t have but two focuses—Lit and Creative Writing. I majored in literature, but my studies were mostly comparative lit (20th century with no particular national focus) with some theory thrown in for good measure.

Great job on the photo, I saw it on Tastespotting.com and keep up the good blog.

-The Food Monster

And thanks for the Hemingway defense — I, too, brushed him aside years ago, when as a lit-lovin’ college student I was more enamored with the stylistic dazzle of Calvino, Nabokov, Dos Passos and the whole Beat thing. Years later I came back to him (right about the time my cocktail fetish was developing, by the way), and was able to understand and appreciate his work much better. And that “unemotional” tag? Jesus, try reading the last pages of “A Farewell to Arms” or “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and not feel like your guts are being ripped out–sheesh!

I’m also of the opinion that anybody who repeatedly spells Hemingway as “Hemmingway” probably never made it through “The Sun Also Rises” and has no business writing about the man’s drinking habits, but I’m too much of a gentleman to get pushy with it.