Eating and reading Shortbread

I've written about the influence on me of Hemingway's novels but his short stories had an even greater impact. Perhaps they were the pattern for today's mantra, 'less is more'. In some mysterious way a mere incident, scenario or brief episode transmuted itself into an epic story. I recall the stories so well: a young soldier returning from the war, wounded in spirit, trekking the wilderness alone in search of a life gone by; long before On The Waterfront a washed up prize fighter awaiting his...