What do you think?
Rate this book
Hemingway Cutthroat: A Mystery
There were no bullfights in 1937 Madrid, just bombs, freedom fighters, journalists, and plenty of corpses. Ernest Hemingway, covering the Spanish Civil War for the American press, came looking for stories and danger, and found something a friend murdered amid the ruins. With a new novel stirring in his head and his veins pumping with booze, Hemingway sets out to find who killed José Robles Pazos, a bureaucrat in the Popular Front, and who’s covering it up. There is, after all, nothing like risking death in a war zone if it means living fast, nailing the bastards, and avoiding a deadline. With the writer John Dos Passos at his side, Hemingway wades into the darkness, discovering that his old WWI buddy is no mere casualty of war---but victim of something far more terrible. Boisterous, bare knuckled, and stewed to the gills, Hemingway Cutthroat captures the writer at the height of his career and in a Europe teetering on untold cataclysm, struggling to find out not just for whom, but why the bell tolled.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published July 14, 2010
6 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Michael Atkinson
64 books21 followersA son of Long Island and a father of three, I love very good beer, shellfish of any sort, Italian opera in the summertime, and movies. I own more books than I do any other one thing. I love writing, though, making sentences. In addition to my books, I've written, and still write, film criticism, cultural attack, book reviews and essays for The Village Voice, The Believer, Sight & Sound, The Guardian (U.K.), In These Times, The Boston Phoenix, SPiN, Film Comment, Modern Painters, Moving Image Source, IFC.com, The Forward, Maxim, The Progressive, The American Prospect, The Poetry Foundation, The Criterion Collection, Turner Classic Movies (tcm.com), The L Magazine, LA Weekly, and elsewhere.
I have also written a certain amount of unproduced TV, and one pilot that was in fact shot and then vanquished, despite extraordinary notoriety,
BABYLON FIELDS, which can be easily Googled.
My first novel, set in 1956 Key West and ending up in the Cuban mountains with Che and Fidel, HEMINGWAY DEADLIGHTS is the first of a projected series, gallivanting around in the most famous literary biography of the 20th century with a nod to history but also a robust jones for truth, irony, cocktails and culprits.
The second volume, HEMINGWAY CUTTHROAT, finds Hemingway investigating the very real murder of Jose Robles in 1937 Spain.
For #3... methinks Paris.
Not incidentally, at least not to me, I'm also a widely published poet, the winner of Word Works' Washington Prize in 2001, a runner-up for the National Poetry Series in 2001 and 1998, a selectee for The Best American Poetry 1993 (eds. Louise Gluck & David Lehman, Collier/Macmillan, 1993), a recipient of a fellowship in poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts, 1988-89, etc. My poems have been in Epoch, Crazyhorse, The Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, New Letters, Michigan Quarterly Review, Poetry Northwest, Ontario Review, The Laurel Review, Poetry East, The Seneca Review, Cimarron Review, Chelsea, Chicago Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Seattle Review, Graham House Review, New Orleans Review, Kansas Quarterly, Mudfish, Willow Springs, Massachusetts Review, and many other journals.
Lastly, I find pride in the fact that my children can find Timbuktu on a map, I vote anti-imperialist whenever it is possible to do so, and I believe deeply in the existence of human stupidity.
I have also written a certain amount of unproduced TV, and one pilot that was in fact shot and then vanquished, despite extraordinary notoriety,
BABYLON FIELDS, which can be easily Googled.
My first novel, set in 1956 Key West and ending up in the Cuban mountains with Che and Fidel, HEMINGWAY DEADLIGHTS is the first of a projected series, gallivanting around in the most famous literary biography of the 20th century with a nod to history but also a robust jones for truth, irony, cocktails and culprits.
The second volume, HEMINGWAY CUTTHROAT, finds Hemingway investigating the very real murder of Jose Robles in 1937 Spain.
For #3... methinks Paris.
Not incidentally, at least not to me, I'm also a widely published poet, the winner of Word Works' Washington Prize in 2001, a runner-up for the National Poetry Series in 2001 and 1998, a selectee for The Best American Poetry 1993 (eds. Louise Gluck & David Lehman, Collier/Macmillan, 1993), a recipient of a fellowship in poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts, 1988-89, etc. My poems have been in Epoch, Crazyhorse, The Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, New Letters, Michigan Quarterly Review, Poetry Northwest, Ontario Review, The Laurel Review, Poetry East, The Seneca Review, Cimarron Review, Chelsea, Chicago Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Seattle Review, Graham House Review, New Orleans Review, Kansas Quarterly, Mudfish, Willow Springs, Massachusetts Review, and many other journals.
Lastly, I find pride in the fact that my children can find Timbuktu on a map, I vote anti-imperialist whenever it is possible to do so, and I believe deeply in the existence of human stupidity.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 10, 2017
Como me compró que le usará a él como personaje principal. Lo mismo cuando aparecían otros autores o les citaba a ellos y a sus obras.
Muy buenos giros en la historia (que no era para volverse loco pero estaba muy buena) aunque me pareció que el final fue un poco simple y apurado.
Muy buenos giros en la historia (que no era para volverse loco pero estaba muy buena) aunque me pareció que el final fue un poco simple y apurado.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2020
Not much of a mystery, as it claims on the cover, but rollickingly good fun.
July 16, 2010
When offered the chance to review a book that was a mystery, set in the 1930s in Spain and with Hemingway as the main detective I couldn't really say no. It seemed like the most interesting story! This is actually the second book in a series of mysteries with Hemingway as the main character but it can certainly be read as a stand alone.
There seems to be a trend in historical fiction about using real people as fictional detectives. Besides Hemingway I can think of Elizabeth I, Jane Austen and Josephine Tey but I am sure that there must be others out there. It doesn't really bother unless when it clashes with the idea I have on my mind of the person involved. In this case Hemingway is just how I imagined him - loud, larger than life, a womaniser and a bullfight lover! I had every intention of rereading some of his books before delving into this one but, as if often happens, time flew and I didn't.
In Hemingway Cutthroat, Hemingway is in Spain with his friend, and fellow writer, John dos Passos. On a break from writing, he just wants to enjoy the easy life, he likes drinks and women and he seems set on getting as much as he can of both. But do Passos is worried, their friend José Robles has disappeared and he feels like they should investigate what really happened. It takes some time for Hemingway to decide to go investigating but when he does nothing can stop him!
They eventually find Robles' dead body and the unexplained circumstances behind it make Hemingway more determined to find what happened. He bribes and threatens his way around the Spanish police to discover whose side was Robles on. I quite liked the answer wasn't immediately obvious and that the motives were directly linked to what was being prepared at the time - the story is set in 1937 - and what was one of the most famous bombings during the Spanish Civil War.
While I found the beginning a bit slow there were still some humourous moments to keep me interested and after the action progresses to the murder investigation I was completely hooked. Not only because of the mystery itself but also because of all the information provided of the situation in Spain during that time. And, since Atkinson's idea of Hemingway matches mine, I thought he made quite a believable detective. A very lucky one too, because on more than one occasion it seemed that his excesses, both of action and language, would land him in jail if not worse, but in the end all's well that ends well and this made for a satisfying read.
Grade: 4/5
There seems to be a trend in historical fiction about using real people as fictional detectives. Besides Hemingway I can think of Elizabeth I, Jane Austen and Josephine Tey but I am sure that there must be others out there. It doesn't really bother unless when it clashes with the idea I have on my mind of the person involved. In this case Hemingway is just how I imagined him - loud, larger than life, a womaniser and a bullfight lover! I had every intention of rereading some of his books before delving into this one but, as if often happens, time flew and I didn't.
In Hemingway Cutthroat, Hemingway is in Spain with his friend, and fellow writer, John dos Passos. On a break from writing, he just wants to enjoy the easy life, he likes drinks and women and he seems set on getting as much as he can of both. But do Passos is worried, their friend José Robles has disappeared and he feels like they should investigate what really happened. It takes some time for Hemingway to decide to go investigating but when he does nothing can stop him!
They eventually find Robles' dead body and the unexplained circumstances behind it make Hemingway more determined to find what happened. He bribes and threatens his way around the Spanish police to discover whose side was Robles on. I quite liked the answer wasn't immediately obvious and that the motives were directly linked to what was being prepared at the time - the story is set in 1937 - and what was one of the most famous bombings during the Spanish Civil War.
While I found the beginning a bit slow there were still some humourous moments to keep me interested and after the action progresses to the murder investigation I was completely hooked. Not only because of the mystery itself but also because of all the information provided of the situation in Spain during that time. And, since Atkinson's idea of Hemingway matches mine, I thought he made quite a believable detective. A very lucky one too, because on more than one occasion it seemed that his excesses, both of action and language, would land him in jail if not worse, but in the end all's well that ends well and this made for a satisfying read.
Grade: 4/5
August 5, 2010
Source: Received for review from publicist. Many thanks to Dana from Kaye Publicity for sending me this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
My Rating: 4/5
Hemingway is in Spain covering the Spanish Civil War for the American papers back home. While there, he satiates his need for women, and booze. He certainly is nursing ideas for his next novel as well, however he finds out that a friend of his has disappeared, and is presumed dead. His interest is piqued, and he immediately sets off to get some answers.
Hemingway is a bawdy, larger than life character. He carouses with women, drinks booze as if it's water, and he manages to get into a large amount of sticky situations. He will stop at nothing to figure out what happened to Robles, even if it ends up killing him. He ends up flirting with death throughout the novel. He gets out of one situation to immediately fall into another, and somehow manages to pull through every time.
Atkinson has created an uproarious, and witty representation of Hemingway. Life in Spain during the Civil War certainly wouldn't have been easy, especially for someone searching for answers. Atkinson's vision of Spain circa 1937 is authentic, and though this novel does have its tongue-in-cheek moments, it also has a darker side. It is a quick read, though it will stick with the reader once finished.
All in all, fans of Hemingway's novels, or mystery lovers will love the thrill ride this author will take you on.
My Rating: 4/5
Hemingway is in Spain covering the Spanish Civil War for the American papers back home. While there, he satiates his need for women, and booze. He certainly is nursing ideas for his next novel as well, however he finds out that a friend of his has disappeared, and is presumed dead. His interest is piqued, and he immediately sets off to get some answers.
Hemingway is a bawdy, larger than life character. He carouses with women, drinks booze as if it's water, and he manages to get into a large amount of sticky situations. He will stop at nothing to figure out what happened to Robles, even if it ends up killing him. He ends up flirting with death throughout the novel. He gets out of one situation to immediately fall into another, and somehow manages to pull through every time.
Atkinson has created an uproarious, and witty representation of Hemingway. Life in Spain during the Civil War certainly wouldn't have been easy, especially for someone searching for answers. Atkinson's vision of Spain circa 1937 is authentic, and though this novel does have its tongue-in-cheek moments, it also has a darker side. It is a quick read, though it will stick with the reader once finished.
All in all, fans of Hemingway's novels, or mystery lovers will love the thrill ride this author will take you on.
November 6, 2010
I love Ernest Hemingway! He is the sleuth in the series. Atkinson captures the essence of Papa in this series. It's a quick moving mystery, but the personality of Papa overwhelms the mystery...which is ok in my book!
This mystery is set in Spain, as Papa and Dos Passos try to figure out who killed a friend of Dos Passos. Hemingway gets more involved in the mystery and brings his charisma with his as he outwits the bad guys.
I really think that Papa Hemingway would be proud of this series that Atkinson has created! I can't wait for the next one.
This mystery is set in Spain, as Papa and Dos Passos try to figure out who killed a friend of Dos Passos. Hemingway gets more involved in the mystery and brings his charisma with his as he outwits the bad guys.
I really think that Papa Hemingway would be proud of this series that Atkinson has created! I can't wait for the next one.
October 15, 2011
I suppose my problem with the book maybe that I'm not a Hemingway fan. His personality of thuggery and seeking sex under every rock I found tiring even if accurate. I enjoyed the book for the setting in Civil War Spain in the 1930s, but probably won't read more. If you enjoy the "why I oughta pound you" genre of mysteries you would probably enjoy this book. The writing is smooth and does not distract or detract from the story.
August 14, 2010
In all honesty, I found Hemingway's work to be extremely boring. With that being said, I was intrigued when I read the synopsis for HEMINGWAY CUTTHROAT. I'm really glad I took a chance and asked to review this book. Michael's writing is original and entertaining.
January 23, 2013
It seemed well written, although not a place or topic I have
been interested in. I don't much care for Hemingway, probably
wouldn't have liked the real one much either, so I don't think
I want to read anymore fiction about him.
been interested in. I don't much care for Hemingway, probably
wouldn't have liked the real one much either, so I don't think
I want to read anymore fiction about him.
January 30, 2011
I loved this book! I lived the adventure with Papa, but without the hangovers or beatings. I can't wait for the next one.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews