WIXLIB

The graphics for Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary emphasized a point Societymembers have long understood: Hemingway was a man of words as much as action.(Courtesy PBS)Special Report:The Last Good Life StoryAs the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick DocumentaryHemingway Premieres on PBS, Becoming theLiterary Event of Spring 2021, the Reaction to ItsDetailed, Nuanced Look at the Legend and the ArtDemonstrates that No Two Readers Agree on Howan Icon’s Biography Should Be ToldED. NOTE: The April 5, 6, and 7 premiere of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’sthree-night, six-hour documentary on Ernest Hemingway prompted morecommentary on the writer than any biography, film, or previously unpublishedmanuscript in recent memory. What was particularly striking was the breadth andvariety of the reaction. The lack of consensus had nothing to do with the quality;reviewers and viewers alike concurred that the mixture of interviews, photography,film clips (Hello, Martha!), and even some inventive animation with manuscriptswas effective. What nobody could quite agree on is who Hemingway was. The rangeof response was particularly apparent when Society members gathered on Zoomon April 10 for a post-watch party with special guest Geoffrey Ward, who wrotethe documentary, in conversation with Krista Quesenberry, Paul Hendrickson, andSteven Florczyk. While the event was cathartic for aficionados just then beginning toventure out after a year in pandemic lockdown, the roundtable also illustrated thatthe Hemingway mystique remains as irresistible and impenetrable as ever. In thisspecial report, we take a peek behind the scenes, survey the critics, and let Societymembers voice their opinions.4 Hemingway newsletterPart I: Familiar Society FacesProve Scholars Can Be asCharismatic and Insightful onthe Screen as Any Talking-HeadSuperstarED. NOTE: Although the documentaryfeatured input from such literaryinstitutions as Edna O’Brien, TobiasWolff, and Mary Karr, among others, formany Society members it was a quartet ofHemingway colleagues who commanded thescreen. We were so impressed we decided toplay four questions with our Fab Four.Susan F. Beegel:How did you prepare for yourinterview?I prepare for interviews while doingthings like prepping dinner, loading thedishwasher, or walking the dog. These aregood times to rehearse in my head answersto the questions I hope I will get asked.When I travel, I take along an excellentpocket chronology of Hemingway’s life byMike Reynolds to read in the airport orhotel room the night before. This quick fixreminds me of episodes and connections itmight be fun to talk about and protects meagainst making errors about dates or otherdetails.

Susan F. Beegel with Burns and producer Sara Botstein.I also carry a copy of Carlos Baker’sLife, still the most accurate, bestdocumented, and easiest-to-use biographyfor rapid reference. The worst mistakeyou can make in an interview is the oneyou don’t realize you’ve made until youget home. All you have to do is say 1925instead of 1926, and you walk out the doorleaving behind a ruined take that mightotherwise have been excellent material,or, worse still, a take with an error thatmakes its way onto national TV with yourname on it. It’s important to be sharp andfresh about details and ready to checksomething if you are unsure and even askfor a redo if need be. With luck, if youreview the night before, you won’t have to.What was your greatest fear goinginto the taping?I’ve done more than a dozen TVdocumentaries and used to compete indebate and extemporaneous speaking,so I relish interviews and was especiallyhonored and excited to be interviewed bysomeone of Ken Burns’s caliber. Nerves area good thing—adrenalin is a performanceenhancing drug, after all—but there’sreally nothing to fear about taping. If yousneeze or your hair falls in your face oryour shirt is buttoned crooked or youbotch a sentence or draw a blank or loseyour voice, the take can be done over oredited out. The entire film crew has yourback. They are watching every detailand want you to look good—and no oneis better at this than the Burns-Novickteam. I mean, the sound guy is looking ata digital readout of your voice that tellshim you need a drink of water before youknow you’re thirsty. You are just having avery intense conversation with one otherperson in a circle of very bright light. Inthis case, that person is Ken Burns, whois a master at relaxing people, drawingthem out, challenging them, and evenbushwhacking them into a good interview.But, if I had one concern going in, itwas the heat. It was 98 degrees in NYC thatday and to film we had to turn off the airconditioning, which was old and noisy. Tothis, add klieg lights. I was worried aboutmaintaining my energy and focus andconcerned about everyone else, too.Was there anything you said thatwhen you watched the documentary youthought “Oh, I mangled that answer” orby contrast, was there a moment whereyou thought, “Hey, I have no memorysaying that but it sounds pretty good”!There are no mangled answers in aBurns-Novick film. The mangled answersare on the cutting room floor. Whatyou see on screen represents just a fewminutes chosen from a much longertaped interview. I was happy with thematerial chosen from my interview—I feellike the best things I said went in, alongwith some more workaday quotationsto help bridge the overall narrative or tocontrast with other speakers’ opinions.Plus, a little kidding around. What wasmost meaningful to me was being used asvoiceover in a place or two. It was specialto see how the directors visualized some ofthe things I spoke about.If you could pick only one word todescribe what it’s like to watch yourselfin a documentary, it would be?Whatever the word is, it’s the same oneyou’d use to describe seeing your writtenwork in print.2021 No. 73 5

Marc K. Dudley (Courtesy: imdb.com)Watching myself in a Ken Burnsproduction was absolutely surreal (myall-encompassing word). I’m thrilled andtruly humbled by the experience. I’vetold both the film’s directors (Ken Burnsand Lynn Novick) that this documentaryexperience (the filming, the consulting, theconversation with so many smart people)has been the most fun I’ve had sincegraduate school.My spotlight moment was surrealto say the least. I was flown to NYC,introduced to what seemed like a dozenfolks on set, was prepped by make-up,and then placed in front of the cameraand the lights (and I thought I heard theword “action”). I taped for over two hours;and I think I spent the better part of thatfirst hour just processing my present-dayreality. I’m still not done processing!Marc K. Dudley:How did you prepare for yourinterviews?How did I prepare for the interview?I didn’t. While I thought of prepping, Ihonestly had no idea where to even begin,so I went in cold, crossing my fingers,insistent on just trying to enjoy themoment. And I did!What was your greatest fear goinginto the taping?That stage-fright would kick in andthat I’d draw a blank when the camerasstarted rolling.Was there anything you said thatwhen you watched the documentary youthought “Oh, I mangled that answer” orby contrast, was there a moment whereyou thought, “Hey, I have no memorysaying that but it sounds pretty good”!I spent a couple of solid hours in thatinterview chair, and I recall talking a greatdeal about race-related matters, some ofthe short stories, and Hemingway’s safaris,but I completely forgot being asked aboutThe Sun Also Rises. Seeing myself for thefirst time on-screen talking about thatnovel was a pleasant surprise!If you could pick only one word todescribe what it’s like to watch yourselfin a documentary, it would be?6 Hemingway newsletterVerna with Hemingway’s favorite presidentat the Museum of Natural History, snappedby Susan on a breakWhat was your greatest fear goinginto the taping?I was afraid I would say somethingfactually wrong or unintentionallyoffensive and disgrace myself.Verna Kale (Courtesy: imdb.com)Verna Kale:How did you prepare for yourinterviews?I re-read my own book as a refresher.I had also already read a draft of GeoffreyC. Ward’s script because I was serving as aprogram advisor, so I had a sense of whatstory the film was going to tell. I went toNew York for several days of meetings withthe filmmakers before my scheduled tapeday. We finished up our meetings early, soI had a day and a half free in New York. Idon’t have a lot of free time in general, soinstead of cramming for my interview, Ienjoyed the chance to go to the Museumof Natural History with Susan Beegel(who took this picture of me and TeddyRoosevelt), to visit the Morgan Library,and to meet up with friends at places thatdon’t have kids meals.Was there anything you said thatwhen you watched the documentary youthought “Oh, I mangled that answer” orby contrast, was there a moment whereyou thought, “Hey, I have no memorysaying that but it sounds pretty good”!I’m in the film really briefly—just afew remarks about Gellhorn. One of thepublic intellectuals I admire most (TressieMcMillan Cottom) tweeted about whatI said, which was kind of my worst fearcome true:But maybe this will motivate me tofinally publish the Gellhorn chapter ofye olde dissertation. Overall though Ireally enjoyed watching the series live andfollowing what people were saying in realtime with the #HemingwayPBS hashtag.It was a communal experience andpeople had some really witty and movingreactions.If you could pick only one word todescribe what it’s like to watch yourselfin a documentary, it would beRecognized.

Miriam Mandel (Courtesy: imdb.com)Miriam Mandel:How did you prepare for yourinterviews?I got to know Lynn beforehand.My part was filmed in Paris at the 2018Hemingway Conference. Lynn came acouple of times to my hotel, before theinterview, and we met and had coffee andtalked and talked: she is a tremendouslyengaging person, a great listener, an openand intelligent speaker, and just fun to bewith. In no time at all we had exchangedfamily histories and partner stories. By thetime the day of the filming came around,I felt we knew each other very well andcould talk easily.On the appointed day I went over toher hotel, where the crew was, with mysilver earrings and my very best littleblack frock carefully rolled up in a paperbag. Lynn nixed the frock but allowed theearrings. She then turned me over to themakeup woman, who made me feel likea movie star by brushing blush here anddrawing smudgy blue lines there, and thenI was cautioned to step carefully over abunch of cables and wires that decoratedthe floor between me and the chair I wasto occupy. I clutched my very worn copy ofDeath in the Afternoon hoping to be askedto read from it. I don’t remember if I was.What was your greatest fear goinginto the taping?That I would sound stilted. But Lynnmade sure I didn’t. She sat across fromme and the conversation began. It was themost natural and easygoing conversationyou can imagine, and although there was alighting person there, and a sound person,and a make-up person (who stopped theproceedings at one point because my leftear had gotten too shiny and needed tobe powdered), and a lot of equipment, theonly thing that mattered was Lynn’s face.She not only asked wonderfully intelligentquestions, she responded to my answerswith her mobile face, so that I couldn’thelp but remain focused on her. I thinkher expressions conducted my answers,managed the tempo, created emphases,and elicited emotion, much as ZubinMehta’s eyes and face and hands do whenhe conducts the Israel Philharmonic. It wasa wonderful conversation, guided by thatexpressive face of hers. I don’t rememberhow long it lasted, but I do remember thatI enjoyed myself, the way one does whena class goes well, when you know that realcommunication has taken place, when youfeel that understanding has occurred andinsights have been achieved. It was thatkind of a high.Was there anything you said thatwhen you watched the documentary youthought “Oh, I mangled that answer” orby contrast, was there a moment whereyou thought, “Hey, I have no memorysaying that but it sounds pretty good”!For two years I didn’t know if all thatfun had ended up in film or on the cuttingfloor. Sandy Spanier and Verna Kale, whowere advising the documentary team andsaw previews, at one point told me I wasin, or at least had been in, in the versionthey saw. Seeing the documentary itselfwas exciting, waiting to see if I indeed wasin it, and when and where I would showup. And yes, there I was, with my makeupand silver earrings, my little black frockand my very worn copy of Death in theAfternoon nowhere to be seen.If you could pick only one word todescribe what it’s like to watch yourselfin a documentary, it would beOdd. Watching myself was an oddexperience—odd but oddly pleasant. Evenodder was hearing myself before I wasactually on screen, as happens a couple oftimes in the documentary.There were a goodly number of emailsthat came to me after the documentary,some from high school friends of longago asking if that was me, and one veryinteresting missive from someone whoresponded to my accent, saying it filledhim with nostalgia: he was a Cuban whohad come to Puerto Rico, had gone to thesame school I went to, and had had hisBar Mitzva in the synagogue my parentshelped establish and in which I wasmarried. Someday I hope to meet him andsee what his accent sounds like.Most of all, though, I hope to meet upwith Lynn again and pick up where weleft off. She is a terrific interviewer and,most of all, a terrific conversationalist. InHemingway, she and Ken Burns and theirtalented team brought forth a beautifuland sensitive documentary, makingwriting and even thinking come alive,and avoiding all pitfalls, pathos, andstereotypes. My admiring congratulationsto them all.Part II: The Man in theMirror: Despite an Aggregated89/100 Score on Metacritic.com, Hemingway Provesthat Reviewers RemainWildly Conflicted about theWriter’s Accomplishments andRelevance why a film about Hemingway now,and not, say, Faulkner? Is Faulkner nota more vibrant figure, who prefigured inhis Snopes stories and novels the age ofTrump and Derek Chauvin’s trial, andthe Gordian knot of race that continuesto choke large portions of our country?In this context, Burns and Novick’sHemingway feels a little anachronistic, and“smells of the museums,” as Stein once saidof Hemingway. Stein’s voice and her experiments withsound are part of the spine of his work,and how gripping is that? To realize thatHemingway’s famously muscular prosewas born of admiration for a middleaged lesbian’s sui-generis sentences andparagraphs? Absorbing Stein’s influence,and admitting to his attraction, was oneway of getting at what he always longedfor: to be a girl in love with a powerfulwoman. —Hilton Als, The New YorkerWhatever you already know, or don’tknow, about Ernest Hemingway andhis work—and his life—the new PBSdocumentary Hemingway is certain to addmore to that body of knowledge. And, verylikely, it will make you reassess much ofit. As a Ken Burns and company literarybiography, Hemingway is even better thantheir previous documentary on MarkTwain. And my levels of praise don’t getmuch higher than that.—David Bianculli, NPR2021 No. 73 7

Most surprisingly, the documentaryshows a man who—far from being a relicof the past—is instead an avatar for the21st century, with the narrative coalescingaround themes near and dear to themillennial heart: gender inequity, mentalhealth, and the thirst for fame.—Brin-Jonathan Butler, Bloomberg.comIt’s not that the documentary isuninformative—Burns and Novick seemto have access to every pertinent location,letter, photo, film clip, and intervieweerelated to their subject. But the overalltone and approach tends to remain nomatter what the subject, whether it’s theCivil War, jazz, baseball, the Dust Bowl,or Ernest Hemingway. As always, there’sPeter Coyote’s warm narration, elegiacmusic, and a fairly simple narrative arc.What it adds up to, though, is a tendencytoward depoliticization, but by now Burnsis renowned for his ability to sand offthe spikier, more interesting parts of hissubjects. —Eileen Jones, Jacobin an engaging and beautifullyconstructed character study and proof thatwhatever [Ken] Burns chooses to cover asa filmmaker will more than likely becomethe definitive documentary on that specifictopic. In Hemingway’s case, it’s a story thatis a lot more sensitive than one could’veimagined. —Kiko Martinez, VarietySo what can Hemingway tell usabout what American writers owe toHemingway? Whatever that debt is, it’s alot, according to the various writers andliterary scholars who appear as talkingheads in the documentary, but they (EdnaO’Brien, Tobias Wolff, Mario Vargas Llosa)are fairly long in the tooth, and few young8 Hemingway newsletterAs The New Yorker’s illustration to Hilton Als’s review suggested, most critics strove todiscover the 7/8 of Hemingway hidden beneath the surface. (Courtesy: The New Yorker)fiction writers would now claim himas a star to steer by. In comparison, theinfluence of William Faulkner, transfiguredin the crucible of Toni Morrison’s geniusand legacy, can be detected everywhere.—Laura Miller, SlateHemingway is unmistakably an attemptto reassert the author’s place in the 20thcentury literary canon, but Burns andNovick do not shy away from telling youthings that may—and in my case definitelydid—move you toward the conclusion thatHemingway was more problematic thanmany celebrities who have been “canceled”in recent years. Midway through watchingthe series, I wrote in my notes, “I’mstarting to get the sense that Burns andNovick don’t like Hemingway either.”When the facts are bad enough, objectivitybecomes its own judgment. —Scott Porch,The Daily BeastPart III: Several ReadersWrite: Society Members WeighIn, Respectful but Varied inReactionI would like to see more aboutMichigan, Arkansas and the Americanwest. —Pat AtwaterI recall the comment that amongEnglish language writers only Shakespearehas had more written about him thanhas Ernest Hemingway. And why not?Hemingway made his work out of his life.He also sought experiences, rich in theirown right, which would serve as fodderand he invited his contemporaries to viewhis work in that context. The brilliance ofthe documentary was in showing how thethemes of war, death, love and nature, soprominent in his work, were embedded inthese life experiences. —William Berg

My reaction to the Ken Burns / LynnNovick Hemingway documentary ismixed. The main issue is, for those thathave studied Hemingway for any lengthof time, the documentary was necessarilyincomplete – at six hours. So, what toinclude? On one hand, the portions thatfocused on the writing were very effective,but again, excluded, or too quicklyskimmed over some key works. On thepersonal front, they took a necessarilyunvarnished look at his complicated life,but again, that should still flow naturallywithin the confines of the film. At a coupleof key moments, it did not. For example,there was a random clip of Patrick statingthat his father didn’t care much aboutthe Cuban people, so that’s what a viewermay come away with. This is contradictedby the recent book, Ernesto by AndrewFeldman. The film also emphasizes a laterin life letter regarding James Jones whicharbitrarily attem

EST: Teaching The Sun Also Rises, moderated by Juliet Conway We’ll kick off the literary discussions with a panel on teaching The Sun Also Rises, moderated by recent University of Edinburgh Ph.D. alumna Juliet Conway, who has a great piece on the novel in the current Hemingway R