What do you think?
Rate this book
Hemingway at Eighteen: The Pivotal Year That Launched an American Legend
George Ehrlich Award Recipient
In the summer of 1917, Ernest Hemingway was an eighteen-year-old high school graduate unsure of his future. The American entry into the Great War stirred thoughts of joining the army. While many of his friends in Oak Park, Illinois, were heading to college, Hemingway couldn’t make up his mind and eventually chose to begin a career in writing and journalism at the Kansas City Star , one of the great newspapers of its day.
In six and a half months at the Star , Hemingway experienced a compressed, streetwise alternative to a college education that opened his eyes to urban violence, the power of literature, the hard work of writing, and a constantly swirling stage of human comedy and drama. The Kansas City experience led Hemingway into the Red Cross ambulance service in Italy, where, two weeks before his nineteenth birthday, he was dangerously wounded at the front.
Award-winning writer Steve Paul takes a measure of this pivotal year when Hemingway’s self-invention and transformation began—from a “modest, rather shy and diffident boy” to a confident writer who aimed to find and record the truth throughout his life. Hemingway at Eighteen provides a fresh perspective on Hemingway’s writing, sheds new light on this young man bound for greatness, and introduces anew a legendary American writer at the very beginning of his journey.
In the summer of 1917, Ernest Hemingway was an eighteen-year-old high school graduate unsure of his future. The American entry into the Great War stirred thoughts of joining the army. While many of his friends in Oak Park, Illinois, were heading to college, Hemingway couldn’t make up his mind and eventually chose to begin a career in writing and journalism at the Kansas City Star , one of the great newspapers of its day.
In six and a half months at the Star , Hemingway experienced a compressed, streetwise alternative to a college education that opened his eyes to urban violence, the power of literature, the hard work of writing, and a constantly swirling stage of human comedy and drama. The Kansas City experience led Hemingway into the Red Cross ambulance service in Italy, where, two weeks before his nineteenth birthday, he was dangerously wounded at the front.
Award-winning writer Steve Paul takes a measure of this pivotal year when Hemingway’s self-invention and transformation began—from a “modest, rather shy and diffident boy” to a confident writer who aimed to find and record the truth throughout his life. Hemingway at Eighteen provides a fresh perspective on Hemingway’s writing, sheds new light on this young man bound for greatness, and introduces anew a legendary American writer at the very beginning of his journey.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2017
7 people are currently reading
533 people want to read
About the author
Steve Paul
21 books15 followersSteve Paul grew up in New England, landed in Kansas City with his family, and eventually logged a 40-plus year career as a newspaper writer and editor. His journalism spanned local and national news; book criticism and the arts; long-form features on murder, art fraud, architecture and barbecue; profiles of writers and musicians; restaurant reviewing; and editorial page editing and columnizing. He's a former board member of the National Book Critics Circle as well as the onetime owner of a bookshop. His latest literary biography is "Literary Alchemist: The Writing Life of Evan S. Connell," which aims to revive attention to this under-appreciated American writer. Steve's previous book, "Hemingway at Eighteen" (2017), was the product of many years of off-and-on research and accelerated by his retirement from newspaper work in 2016. He also writes regularly on the arts for KC Studio magazine.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 2, 2018
Really enjoyed this book....since I attended college in the KC area and lived there for 5 years and have been to most of the locations of Hemingway's haunts in KC...it was highly informative and quite interesting to hear about the molding of Hemingway , as a young writer......
If you are a fan of Papa....a must read for you!
If you are a fan of Papa....a must read for you!
February 16, 2018
good intro to hemingway, from someone who didnt know much about his biography. Also interesting portrait of a young writer and good period piece on the time
October 20, 2017
Perfectly structured, researched, detailed and told. Everything fascinates, from select word choices embedded in the narrative to a peek into Kansas City's past as a cowtown and a lawless town. Original pieces reproduced from Kansas City Star in Hemingway's earliest and nascent years as a writer are truly a bonus. The author zooms in on the youthful Hemingway psyche, markers of his future: ambition, talent and personal foibles.
Hemingway at Eighteen is a rare book that prompted me to look ahead and think, "Oh, no! There's only one hundred pages left."
Hemingway at Eighteen is a rare book that prompted me to look ahead and think, "Oh, no! There's only one hundred pages left."
May 25, 2018
Hemingway grew up in Oak Park, Illinois and in 1917 was 18-years-old. Deciding to forgo college, he moved to Kansas City and got a job at the Kansas City Star an important paper during this era. It is there where the writer learned to work the beats and develop contacts at the city’s hotspots such as the local hospital emergency rooms and police precincts. The paper wasn’t big on conventional writing and demanded “original, imaginative, entertaining, and above all, clear writing.” Hemingway started slowly but started to catch on during his six- month stint at the paper.
During this apprenticeship, Hemingway’s desire to join the war efforts intensified, particularly when he read the many patriotic editorials authored by President Woodrow Wilson that splashed across the pages of the country’s newspapers. However, the author also was mindful of the cynical positions held by antiwar advocates.
Hemingway didn’t qualify for admission into the military and joined the Red Cross ambulance service in Italy where he often inflated or lied about various heroic acts he accomplished. He was seriously wounded and received the Silver Medal of Military Valor from the Italian government.
When convalescing following his injuries, he fell in love with one of the nurses, Agnes von Kurowsky. She would end the relationship and “the emotional toll Hemingway suffered when she broke it off months later, took on epic proportions.” He would write about this woman in a novel decades later. [Note: Hemingway would fall in love with many women only to have them leave him over the years. These losses had a profound effect on him during his final days.]
The author provides an excellent insight into the environment that helped to shape Hemingway's later writings. I recommend this book.
During this apprenticeship, Hemingway’s desire to join the war efforts intensified, particularly when he read the many patriotic editorials authored by President Woodrow Wilson that splashed across the pages of the country’s newspapers. However, the author also was mindful of the cynical positions held by antiwar advocates.
Hemingway didn’t qualify for admission into the military and joined the Red Cross ambulance service in Italy where he often inflated or lied about various heroic acts he accomplished. He was seriously wounded and received the Silver Medal of Military Valor from the Italian government.
When convalescing following his injuries, he fell in love with one of the nurses, Agnes von Kurowsky. She would end the relationship and “the emotional toll Hemingway suffered when she broke it off months later, took on epic proportions.” He would write about this woman in a novel decades later. [Note: Hemingway would fall in love with many women only to have them leave him over the years. These losses had a profound effect on him during his final days.]
The author provides an excellent insight into the environment that helped to shape Hemingway's later writings. I recommend this book.
December 14, 2020
It's a short book, and a little bit studious in tone, which is surprising given that author Steve Paul was a journalist before retiring. No matter — Paul gives fans of Papa Hem an insightful look into what was inarguably one of the more important single years of Ernest's life.
What really stood out from this particular book, to me at least, was just how Midwestern Hemingway was. I sort of knew that, but not the reality of it. He was born in Chicago, spent nearly every summer of his youth at a family property in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and then embarked on his very first job, as a cub reporter, to the Kansas City Star. It's so interesting to me that a number of Lost Generation writers were Midwestern — Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and more.
Anyways . . . while at the Star, Hemingway got a reporter's education in writing. It's amazing how clearly the newspaper's famed style guide and Ernest's prose line up. What an influence that very first job of his had!
After just 6 months at the newspaper, though, the call of WWI was too strong to resist. Hemingway always wanted to be part of the action. Though he failed an Army physical, he was able to sign on as a volunteer ambulance driver. It was along a river in Italy, just a couple weeks shy of turning 19, that a mortar shell exploded just 3 feet from Hemingway, killing an Italian soldier and leaving Ernest with over 200 pieces of shrapnel in his legs. The injuries left him recovering in the hospital for months, which led to his first great love, which led to the story found in A Farewell to Arms.
Truly, the story of Hemingway's youth led directly to the story of the rest of his life. Again, the writing itself as good — not great — but the subject matter intrigued me to no end.
What really stood out from this particular book, to me at least, was just how Midwestern Hemingway was. I sort of knew that, but not the reality of it. He was born in Chicago, spent nearly every summer of his youth at a family property in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and then embarked on his very first job, as a cub reporter, to the Kansas City Star. It's so interesting to me that a number of Lost Generation writers were Midwestern — Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and more.
Anyways . . . while at the Star, Hemingway got a reporter's education in writing. It's amazing how clearly the newspaper's famed style guide and Ernest's prose line up. What an influence that very first job of his had!
After just 6 months at the newspaper, though, the call of WWI was too strong to resist. Hemingway always wanted to be part of the action. Though he failed an Army physical, he was able to sign on as a volunteer ambulance driver. It was along a river in Italy, just a couple weeks shy of turning 19, that a mortar shell exploded just 3 feet from Hemingway, killing an Italian soldier and leaving Ernest with over 200 pieces of shrapnel in his legs. The injuries left him recovering in the hospital for months, which led to his first great love, which led to the story found in A Farewell to Arms.
Truly, the story of Hemingway's youth led directly to the story of the rest of his life. Again, the writing itself as good — not great — but the subject matter intrigued me to no end.
Read
February 14, 2022Curiosity might be a factor in selecting Paul’s book about one year in Ernest Hemingway’s life. Hemingway is seen as one of the most famous American writers. His adventures during war, traveling, his numerous wives and eventual suicide when he seemed to have it all are legendary. Steve Paul picked one year at the beginning of these adventures when Hemingway was a reporter chasing down stories for the Kansas City Star in 1917. The myriad characters he met, interviewed, befriended and learned from are detailed here.
Writers curious to see how a writer’s skill develops will see how the KC Star Style sheet might have led to Hemingway’s renowned short-to-the-point sentences. Paul’s 230-page book details the year before he left for WWI with plenty of facts on Hemingway, Kansas City, the Star and writing.
Writers curious to see how a writer’s skill develops will see how the KC Star Style sheet might have led to Hemingway’s renowned short-to-the-point sentences. Paul’s 230-page book details the year before he left for WWI with plenty of facts on Hemingway, Kansas City, the Star and writing.
December 4, 2017
Gave up after 60 pages. The writer is basically going through Kansas Star at the time Hemingway worked there, guessing which articles might have made an impression on Hemingway. Also looking at articles that "possibly" were written by Hem.
October 26, 2017
There was really nothing interesting enough forcing this reader to finish reading the book. Very boring actually. Disappointed, as expectations were much higher than the actual experience.
November 21, 2017
I give up...author does a lot of supposing about what Hemingway saw and thought and felt. Not my style of biography.
May 27, 2018
As a Kansas Citian, I especially enjoyed this because of the local connections and references.
July 8, 2019
I enjoyed learning a little more about what shaped Hemingway's earlier writing career. His work on the Star in Kansas City was interesting because it explained how the reporters were assigned the stories they covered. Then, the lead up to Hemingway going over to join the ambulance corp and the realities of actually being there gave more insight in to the writer he became.
January 25, 2018
Got only half way through. Seemed like I was reading a research paper.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews