Novel Approach

Penn Arts and Sciences Magazine: Spring/Summer 2012 issue

by Blake Cole

Writing something brand new about a literary giant is no small feat. But Paul Hendrickson, senior lecturer in the Department of English, is not a typical biographer. A feature writer for The Washington Post for more than two decades, Hendrickson applies the tools of investigative journalism to one of the towering figures of American literature in his latest book, Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961. In this critically acclaimed biography, Hendrickson uses Hemingway's 38-foot cabin cruiser, Pilar, as a narrative device to guide readers through the final decades of his life. The book is also punctuated by on-the-record interviews with Hemingway's sons.

Much of the more intimate material Hendrickson had on hand was the product of numerous interviews for a Post series called "Papa's Boys." In 1987, Hendrickson tracked down Jack and Patrick Hemingway, the two eldest sons, in their father's home state of Idaho. He spent a night trout fishing on the famous Henrys Fork of the Snake River with Patrick, an experience he says he will never forget. But it was Hemingway's youngest son, Gregory (affectionately known as Gigi), who would help Hendrickson delve deeply into the author's psyche.

"I was getting ready to leave Idaho when [Gregory] called from Coconut Grove in Florida," recalls Hendrickson. "He said, 'If you can get here tomorrow night, I'd be willing to talk to you.' I expressed doubt, given the distance, but he was adamant about his time frame. So I drove straightaway to Salt Lake and then flew to Miami where I spent a surreal five hours with him."

Gregory's own story is a complicated one. To outside observers he was an accomplished physician and family man, but privately he struggled with gender issues, eventually undergoing reassignment surgery. He ultimately died in a women's jail after charges of indecent exposure. In an interview with Hendrickson, highlighted in Hemingway's Boat, Gregory addresses his father's response to his sexuality: "He was trying to help me, I knew it, no matter how it was killing him, he said, 'Listen Mr. Gig, I can remember a long time ago seeing a girl on a street in Paris and wanting to go over and kiss her just because she had so much damn red lipstick caked on. I wanted to get that lipstick smeared all over my lips, just so I could see what that felt like.'" Hendrickson used these revelations to analyze the author's own representations of gender in literature—a perennial topic, as Hemingway is often labeled a misogynist.

"Here is a man who went to his writing desk every day despite a mountain of both mental and physical ills—the drinking, the depression. Hemingway and his son were bonded through these challenges," says Hendrickson. "They were both far braver human beings than we ever understood. The father had an outlet in his writing—therapy if you will. Sadly, Gregory did not have that same release."

Hemingway's Boat has received many accolades. It was a New York Times, and national, best-seller, and was among the top three best-selling books in London. It also appeared on many year-end "best" lists, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Economist, and Newsweek, and is currently being translated into Russian. In addition, it was selected as a National Book Critics Circle finalist for best biography in the 2011 publishing year. Hendrickson, who was the recipient of the Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005, is currently at work on a book on Frank Lloyd Wright. The softcover edition of Hemingway's Boat is set to release this summer.

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