The Many Boasts of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was, without a doubt, one of the most important and influential authors of the 20th century, but he was also a very boastful man. Although many are unconfirmed or simply unverifiable, here are some of the many boasts Hemingway made throughout his storied life.

He befriended a bear. In a 1950 interview published in The New Yorker, Hemingway told staff writer Lillian Ross of a somewhat special relationship he had with a bear. Ross writes: "In Montana, once, he lived with a bear, and the bear slept with him, got drunk with him, and was a close friend."

F. Scott Fitzgerald once asked Hemingway for help of an intimate nature. The Great Gatsby author was concerned about the size of… a part of his anatomy. Hemingway asked the author to follow him to the men’s room and upon inspection said (from A Moveable Feast): "'You're perfectly fine,' I said. 'You are OK. There's nothing wrong with you. You look at yourself from above and you look foreshortened. Go over to the Louvre and look at the people in the statues and then go home and look at yourself in the mirror in profile.'"

He would finish the bar fights that James Joyce started. From Kenneth Schuyler Lynn’s book entitled Hemingway: "We would go out for a drink," Hemingway told a reporter for Time magazine in the midfifties, "and Joyce would fall into a fight. He couldn't even see the man so he'd say: 'Deal with him, Hemingway! Deal with him!'"

Looking to get acquainted with the classics? Visit our online library at www.greatess.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more, accessible anytime from your favorite devices.

Fascinating Facts About F. Scott Fitzgerald

The author of such timeless classics as The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, F. Scott Fitzgerald has long since solidified his place in history as one of the most important and influential authors of the 20th century. Here are three fascinating facts about F. Scott Fitzgerald that you may not have known.

He was a terrible student. While Fitzgerald demonstrated a love of literature and a talent for writing at an early age, he was a terrible student, struggling to achieve passing marks both in grade school and in college. Fitzgerald nearly flunked out of Princeton, regularly cutting classes before abandoning his studies to join the military. Her was also a terrible speller, and may have suffered from dyslexia.

He nearly fought in World War I. Fitzgerald became a second lieutenant in the army after dropping out of Princeton, he was worried he would die in battle but the November 1918 armistice was signed shortly before his troupe was to be deployed.

He kept a detailed account of his life. Fitzgerald kept detailed records of his income and his published works, but also of his life, with month by month details of his activities since his birth, complete with everything from his first word to his height to falling in love.

Looking for more of the classics? Visit our online library at www.greatess.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more, accessible anytime from your favorite devices.