Sindelar highlights the people, settings, and scenes that Hemingway immortalized in his literature. These events range from watching his father assist with childbirth at an Indian reservation, which became the short story 'Indian Camp,' to his experiences in WWI and the Spanish Civil War, which inspired A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls. The book also aims to elucidate Hemingway's values and moral code. Many of the same anecdotes crop up repeatedly, such as young Ernest's declaration to his mother at age three that he was 'afraid of nothing!' Another oft-emphasized catchphrase is 'grace under pressure,' a tenant which Hemingway embraced to the point of forbidding his brother to cry at their father's funeral. . . . [T]he book can serve as a useful resource for Hemingway fans interested in learning more about the facts behind his fiction. * Publishers Weekly *
Sindelar was inspired by her students to write this book while teaching at Ernest Hemingway's alma mater Oak Park and River Forest High School. This short biography marches chronologically through Hemingway's entire life (1899-1961), with a focus on the places and people that influenced him and those that he in turn inspired. . . .Sindelar nicely organizes Hemingway's life into chapters dedicated to the places he lived, providing readers with a clear vision of its stages and the people he spent his time with in each place. Accompanying photographs are well selected, plentiful, and go a long way in supporting the setting of each chapter. Readers new to Hemingway's work could enjoy a selected chapter on the region where the author lived while writing the book in question. VERDICT Recommended to Hemingway fans and those reading his writing for the first time, as well as those who enjoy biographies and American literary history. * Library Journal *
While Ernest Hemingway's life may be the most thoroughly documented of any American writer, Nancy W. Sindelar offers a concise analysis of the people and places influencing his life and work. Sindelar, who taught at Hemingway's Oak Park, Illinois, high school and is a board member of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, draws upon letters and photographs from that organization to provide new insight into the writer. She writes most incisively about the influence of such places as Oak Park, Paris, Spain, and Cuba, making a strong case for Key West, Florida, as the ideal spot for nurturing his talent. Sindelar emphasizes the significance of the houses and apartments in which Hemingway lived, especially the 'dream home' designed by his mother. Hemingway's views of religion and politics are discussed, with Sindelar arguing that his treatment of sex was a means of breaking away from his family's values. There is a chronology, a bibliography, and a name/title/subject index. * American Reference Books Annual *
Influencing Hemingway is a compact work that explores Hemingway's life from a unique perspective of personal inspiration. . . .[It] pains a clear picture of Hemingway's time in Key West and how the city allowed him to rise to a high point in his career. . . .Despite the passage of time, themes in Hemingway's work remain relevant for the current age, and books like Sindelar's and event like Hemingway Days will keep his legend from falling through the cracks of collective memory. * Key West Citizen *
Sindelar's new book, 'Incluencing Hemingway: People and Places That Shaped His Life and Work', is a well-reasearched, fluidly written study on Hemingway and the family roots and upbringing that helped form and influence his life and writings. The book includes rare photographs and excepts of letters. * Oak Leaves *
This unique biography of Hemingway focuses on the real-life influences of his fiction. Highlighting the people he knew, places he went, and events he witnessed and experienced throughout his lifetime, the author draws parallels from Hemingway's life to his fiction. Fans of Hemingway will love this biography that incorporates so much of his literary work. * Lima News *
When Nancy W. Sindelar taught literature at Oak Park and River Forest High School, she researched alumni Ernest Hemingway's days there as a way of helping her students to feel connected with the man and his stories. She studied his yearbooks, his high school writing, and interviewed some former teachers, in addition to having access to the extensive library of The Ernest Hemingway Museum of Oak Park. The result of her fascination with Papa Hemingway's early life is Influencing Hemingway: People and Places That Shaped His Life and Work, a highly readable investigation into what factors may have inspired the genius of one America's most important literary figures. . . .Overall, this well-documented book tells compelling stories of Hemingway's life and serves as an academic archive, rich with photos, a chronology, and an extensive bibliography. Sindelar herself traveled to Hemingway homes in Paris, Key West, and Havana, and includes her photos in the book as well as archival photos. Pictures from his yearbook and of Hemingway with his family and friends enrich the book greatly. . . .This inspiring book reminds us again that Ernest Hemingway was a larger-than-life figure, and the world of literature is far better for it. * Windy City Reviews *
[I]n her well-research, readable study. . . .Sindelar shows how individuals and locales affected the author as a youth in Oak Park, as a young journalist, war volunteer, and apprentice author in Kansas City, Italy, and Paris, respectively, and as an established writer in Key West, Spain, Cuba, and Sun Valley. . . .[The] associations Sindelar offers are fresh enough to validate her critical biography as a worthwhile addition to those studies that have made meaningful contributions to our understanding of Ernest Hemingway and his literary canon. * Hemingway Review *
Extraordinarily well researched, written, organized and presented, Influencing Hemingway: The People and Places That Shaped His Life and Work is a seminal work that is impressively informed and informative. An absolutely essential and core addition to both community and academic library collections in general, and Ernest Hemingway supplemental academic studies lists in particular. * Midwest Book Review *
