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More copies of this ISBN:Strange Tribe: A Family Memoirby John Hemingway
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A memoir that is at once fascinating, compelling, and heartbreaking, Strange Tribe reveals the peculiar dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son, Gregory, the author's father. Gregory tried to live up to Ernest's macho reputation throughout his life. Yet as a cross-dresser and (ultimately) a transsexual, Gregory was obsessed with his "female half," and he struggled with personal demons until his death at the Women's Correctional Facility of the Miami-Dade County Jail in 2001. The media referred to Gregory as the "black sheep" of the Hemingway family. Gregory's son, however, wasn't so sure. In this wonderfully crafted narrative, John Hemingway reveals how Ernest himself felt a special kinship with Gregory, and how the two men (who both suffered from bipolar illness and shared a fascination with androgyny) were actually two sides of the same coin. Featuring several newly published letters between Ernest and Gregory, Strange Tribe reveals their unknown similarities. In the end, John comes to feel that in his father's lifelong struggles, Gregory most exemplified Ernest's ideal of grace under pressure. This is also John's coming-of-age story - of what it was like growing up in Miami and Montana with his father and his schizophrenic mother, how it took him years to deal with the pain their illnesses caused him, and how he ultimately fled the burden of the Hemingway name and family history, one marked by multiple suicides, by moving to Italy in 1984. Now able for the first time to confront the legacy of his troubled father and famous grandfather, John also examines his own life and role as a father. Along the way, his honest, piercing, and uniquely revealing story forces us to reevaluate the work of Ernest Hemingway, one of the most important literary icons of the past hundred years, whose persona continues to loom darkly over the often-troubled lives of his descendants. Review:"The author, grandson of Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway, and son of his youngest child, Gregory, investigates the similarities between these two paternal figures and seeks to find his place in their 'strange tribe' with a 'famous last name.' Sure to excite fans and Hemingway scholars, the book does much to complicate Ernest's image as a macho man, cataloguing both his dependence on women and his gender-bending proclivities. However, the true heart of the book is in exploring the Hemingways' failure as parents and how the familial disposition toward manic-depression created a genetic 'Hemingway curse.' The author, having escaped the disease, paints his father and grandfather in blunt strokes as loving and generous men who had little understanding of their psychological disorder; the most endearing and comprehensive portrait is of his father's struggles as a transvestite son of a 'pillar of American manhood.' When describing his own parents' early neglect (his mother was schizophrenic) and, later, his partial reconciliation with his father, the book focuses on the author's generation of Hemingways — but mostly the book is intent upon setting the record straight about Ernest, his youngest son and their similarities. John Hemingway writes honestly and is a sympathetic scrutinizer of this complicated and famous man, the family he parented and the myths to which his writing has given birth." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Book News Annotation:The grandson of Ernest Hemingway and the son of Gregory Hemingway,
John (b. 1960) has plenty to tell about the family; he does so in a
candid yet dignified and respectful manner. His father was a
transexual, and his mother, schizophrenic; yet he grew up and found
ways to come to terms with more than most people must experience in
their youth, surrounded as he was by extreme behavior, mental
illness, suicide, and the dominating shadow cast by the literary
persona of his famous grandfather. In his twenties John moved to
Italy to find his way, and he lives now with his wife and two
children in Spain working as a writer and translator. The book
includes some interesting family photos.
Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Synopsis:A family memoir revealing the fascinating dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son, Gregory, written by John Hemingway (grandson of Ernest and son of Gregory). Synopsis:Strange Tribe is a fascinating memoir revealing the peculiar family dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son Gregory. Gregory, the author’s father, tried to live up to Ernest’s “macho” reputation throughout his life. But as a cross-dresser and (eventually) a transsexual, Gregory was obsessed with androgyny and his "female half,” and he struggled with personal demons up until his death in the Women's Correctional Facility of the Miami Dade County Jail in 2001. In this wonderfully crafted narrative, John reveals how Ernest and Gregory (who both suffered from bipolar illness and were both fascinated by androgyny) were “two sides of the same coin.” Featuring several unpublished correspondences between Ernest and Gregory, Strange Tribe is the story of these two men and the surprising similarities between the two. This is also John's story--about what it was like growing up in Miami and Montana with his father and his schizophrenic mother, and of how it took him years to deal with the pain their illnesses caused him. He also shows how the persona of Ernest Hemingway, the most important literary icon of the past 100 years, continues to loom darkly over the often-troubled lives of his descendants. About the AuthorJohn Hemingway is a writer and translator who lives with his wife, Ornella, and their two children, Michael and Jacqueline, just outside of Milan in Italy. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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