My Brother, Ernest Hemingway
was the only biography Ernest knew about, and he was pleased with it—although he asked his brother to postpone publication while he was still alive. First published in 1962, Leicester's biography provides a revealing and intimate portrait of one of the great writers of our century. Ernest Hemingway was a legend in his own time, whose life was as dramatic as any of the characters in his novels and short stories. He won both the Nobel and the Pulitzer prizes for literature, and the literary style he created has been imitated but never matched.
Leicester was the archetypal kid brother, 16 years younger than the great man, whom he adored and in whose footsteps he followed, becoming a respected writer, sharing his brother's love for high risk and adventure, and, when his health failed, choosing to end his own life as Ernest had done. In this poignant biography, Leicester has given us insight into his world-renowned brother's life and career as no one else could. His reminiscences allow us to better understand what prompted so many of the familiar Hemingway responses, and the experiences from which he derived material for his novels and stories.