Cockeyed Happy: Ernest Hemingway's Wyoming Summers with Pauline

by Darla Worden

“Streamlined and impacting, Darla Worden’s Cockeyed Happy could be construed as a narrative of the author himself, a compelling account of Hemingway’s summers in Wyoming—and I can think of no finer compliment.”—Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

In March 1928, after the phenomenal success of The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway returned to the United States with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer—the stylish Vogue editor and scorned "other woman" who would give up everything to be with him and, in the end, lose it all.

The couple fled Paris in the wake of the huge gossip storm about the American author's affair and abandonment of his wife and son. Escaping to Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains to write while Pauline recovered from the birth of their first child, he finished A Farewell to Arms and fell in love with the land around him. Pauline soon joined him in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole.

In Cockeyed Happy Darla Worden tells the little-known story of Hemingway and Pauline during six summers from 1928 to 1939—from smitten newlywed to bored, restless husband and ultimately to philanderer as he falls in love with another woman once again.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2021

Reviews

[Eliza Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darla Worden's new book Cockeyed Happy offers a compelling tale about the summers Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline spent in Wyoming during the late 1920s and 1930s. Well-researched and chock full of fascinating old black and white photos and excerpts from letters, the book is a fast-paced read with 97 short chapters in five parts. Amidst the details of Hemingway's hunting, drinking and fishing adventures at several Wyoming retreats and dude ranches, a portrait emerges of Pauline Pfeiffer and the sacrifices she made to dedicate herself to the role of Hemingway's wife. She soon discovers the futility of trying to satisfy and accommodate the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's many moods, demands, whims and lusts.

[Claire Gerber · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lover of literature and a resident of Sheridan, Wyoming, this was an especially enjoyable read. I felt a similar disgust at Hemingway's treatment of Pauline as Bradley Cooper's character in Silver Linings Playbook did at the ending of Farewell to Arms (when he chucked the book out the window). Despite his bad character, I am compelled to read more Hemingway as a result of reading this, and it reaffirms my appreciation of having the Bighorn Mountains in my "backyard."

[Shari Caudron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darla Worden’s ability to bring Hemingway’s summers in Wyoming to life is a masterwork in nonfiction storytelling. You won’t just be reading ABOUT Hemingway’s six summers in Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountains, you’ll feel as though you’re WITH him--hunting, fishing, writing, and watching his marriage to Pauline evolve from newlywed romance to something far more complicated.

Worden also gives readers a fascinating close-up view of Hemingway’s writing process and the swirl of ambition, doubt, and restlessness surrounding his work. I loved the way she makes both the landscape and this lesser-known chapter of Hemingway’s life feel immediate and alive.

Highly recommended for Hemingway fans and for writers who want an intimate look at the working life of one of the most famous authors who ever lived.

[Mindy Sink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an impressive amount of research went into this book! I'm not a Hemingway fan, but I was intrigued by this little portal into Wyoming. It was an interesting way to tell the story of a marriage during a different time and involving such a famous person, and one with such a difficult history. I usually reach for fiction so creative non-fiction isn't my genre but I found I could not put this book down. If I were currently in a book club, I would suggest this one as it would be so good for discussion in a group--the marriage, the child rearing, and more!

[Luke Hannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting while my class was studying Ernest Hemingway but the interest wore off over nearly six months of reading.

[Deborah Gaspar · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a westerner I get tired of hearing about the great Hemingway but this is an okay book about his time with his wife Pauline and slightly about Wyoming. My advice, read other Wyoming authors as their lives are more interesting.

[Annie Garvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love short chapters.

[Audrey Ashbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cockeyed Happy: Ernest Hemingway's Wyoming Summers with Pauline by Darla Worden is an account of the summers between 1928 to 1939. 

This was well-written, very researched, and entertaining!