Importance of Not Being Ernest

Mark Kurlansky was born in Hartford, Connecticut. After receiving a BA in Theater from Butler University in 1970—and refusing to serve in the military—Kurlansky worked in New York as a playwright, having a number of off-off Broadway productions, and as a playwright-in-residence at Brooklyn College. He has worked many other jobs, including as a commercial fisherman, a dock worker, a paralegal, a cook, and a pastry chef. In the mid-1970s he turned to journalism, and from 1976 to 1991 he worked as a foreign correspondent for The International Herald Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Based in Paris and then Mexico, he reported on Europe, West Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Time, The New York Times and many more. He has had 35 books published including fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. His books include Havana, Cod, Salt, Paper, The Basque History of the World, 1968, The Big Oyster, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appetit’s Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He lives in New York City.

• PROLOGUE: A Dream IntrudesCHAPTER ONE: Entrances and ExitsCHAPTER TWO: A Writer Must EscapeCHAPTER THREE: The Grass in ParisCHAPTER FOUR: The Patent-leather Soul of SpainCHAPTER FIVE: Cuba and the Unspeakable FeastCHAPTER SIX: Idaho and the Last EscapeEPILOGUE: Unnatural New YorkBIBLIOGRAPHY

“Kurlansky (Salt: A World History) focuses on all of the coincidental intersections between his life and Ernest Hemingway’s in this multi-genre work. Part travel memoir, part history, it trapeses through France, Spain, Cuba, Idaho, and finally New York, connecting literary and moments and personal experiences in Kurlansky’s and Hemingway’s lives. Reports from Kurlansky’s and Hemingway’s careers as foreign correspondents, then expats, in Spain and Paris blend seamlessly with Kurlansky’s descriptions of regional conflicts and cultures, and each chapter is connected by watercolor stills from Kurlansky’s travel diaries, which add an authentic touch to the storytelling. Beyond his astute humor, Kurlansky handles the contradictions between ‘Hemingway, the man’ and ‘Hemingway, the myth’ with genuine reverence and a critical eye. He gives us another lens through which to view Hemingway’s work: geography; he argues that Hemingway himself impacted the places he traveled as much as did his writing. VERDICT: An absolute delight! Full of personality, Kurlansky’s book will enchant history, literature, and Hemingway fans alike."—Library Journal, Starred Review“The ghost of Hemingway has haunted and inspired at least three generations of American writers. Mark Kurlansky is no exception, and his detailed, self-deprecating account of the presence of that ghost is as brilliantly revealing of Hemingway as it is of Kurlansky himself. He knows his Hemingway, the life and the works, and he knows his Kurlansky, and he’s bitingly honest about both writers. Kurlansky, however, comes off as a hell of a lot more likable.”—Russell Banks, author of Continental Drift, Cloudsplitter, and Lost Memory of Skin“For all that’s already been written about Hemingway,The Importance of Not Being Ernest illuminates his life and works in ways not seen before. Our Not-Ernest is a superbly knowledgeable and entertaining guide, and the book artfully braids the Hemingway narrative with Kurlansky’s own rich experiences as a world-traveling journalist and bestselling author. Kurlansky’s idea for a memoir was inspired; the result is a brilliant and original achievement, a feast for readers, whether fans of Papa or not.”—Sigrid Nunez, author of the National Book Award-winning novel, The Friend, and What Are You Going Through