Ernest Hemingway on Writing
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Ernest Hemingway on Writing Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 897 ratings
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An assemblage of reflections on the nature of writing and the writer from one the greatest American writers of the 20th century.

Throughout Hemingway’s career as a writer, he maintained that it was bad luck to talk about writing - that it takes off “whatever butterflies have on their wings and the arrangement of hawk’s feathers if you show it or talk about it”.

Despite this belief, by the end of his life he had done just what he intended not to do. In his novels and stories, in letters to editors, friends, fellow artists, and critics, in interviews and in commissioned articles on the subject, Hemingway wrote often about writing. And he wrote as well and as incisively about the subject as any writer who ever lived....

This book contains Hemingway’s reflections on the nature of the writer and on elements of the writer’s life, including specific and helpful advice to writers on the craft of writing, work habits, and discipline. The Hemingway personality comes through in general wisdom, wit, humor, and insight, and in his insistence on the integrity of the writer and of the profession itself. (From the Preface by Larry W. Phillips)

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  1. Listening Length
    2 hours and 39 minutes
  2. Author
    Larry W. Phillips - editor
  3. Narrator
    John Bedford Lloyd
  4. Audible release date
    December 17, 2019
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Audio
  7. ASIN
    B07TXM5P2R
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 2 hours and 39 minutes
Author Larry W. Phillips - editor
Narrator John Bedford Lloyd
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date December 17, 2019
Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07TXM5P2R
Best Sellers Rank #29,490 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#37 in Modern Literary Criticism
#43 in Writing & Publishing
#60 in Literary History & Criticism

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
897 global ratings
Don't hate on the greats, this book rules!
5 Stars
Don't hate on the greats, this book rules!
I bought this used, its a fascinating read; without giving away any details its mostly just letters from his newspaper corespondency, and private letters to other notable writers and members of his family. My only gripe about this book is that the other reviewers say that the advice is useless and nonsensical,I say wrong, wrong wrong! Its a must read for young writers and the advice is only impractical if you're prone to writers block and you don't have a social life or an imagination. if you can't write without your hand being held you're not a writer (and also he writes about writers block in the book ,) I have no idea what expectations the negative reviewers had
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Top reviews from the United States

Brian
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful as expected
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2023
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This book isn’t exactly a book on writing as some others, however, what great insights from an amazing author. Hemingway and Steinbeck are two of my favorite. I love that short letters or snippets of letters give us an idea of what Hemingway thought about writing. He was passionate. Great book as expected.
One person found this helpful
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Tony Foglio
5.0 out of 5 stars Applicable for writing, speaking, and living.
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2023
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An excellent view of Hemingway and his writings and views of life. If you write, you gotta read Hemingway's writing.
One person found this helpful
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David L
4.0 out of 5 stars The book is good to have because it’s the only one...
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2020
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This book is nice to have in that, as far as I know, there is nothing else that Hemingway has written that is a book on writing. It is, however, not an instructive book on writing but rather things that have been excerpted from his writings, letters and interviews. (That is why I gave it only 4 stars instead of 5) I found it informative and interesting to read about some of Hemingway’s thoughts on writing. —David L
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Shannon Quinn
5.0 out of 5 stars Very inspirational. Lovely collection by a master writer.
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2017
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When I got this book in the mail, I was disappointed at first. I thought I was going to be buying something akin to Stephen King's On Writing, but as soon as I read the introduction from the editor, I learned that Hemingway thought it was bad luck to talk about writing. So of course he would never create a manifesto like King did. I thought, "Great, these are going to be the same quotes you can find online." Nope. I was wrong.

This is essentially a collection of his thoughts on writing gathered from interviews and letters. The editors obviously took a long, painstaking process of putting everything together, and it has quickly become something I am going to treasure.

My reaction to John Gardner's On Writing was traumatizing fear that I wasn't good enough. Stephen King's On Writing is great, except it gave me an unrealistic expectation that if I can't write an award-winning novel like Carrie, then I may as well not try at all. However, this book just inspires me. Plain and simple. I also love the fact that since it's broken up into little quotes, I don't have to waste a lot of time reading it, and get back to actually writing.
57 people found this helpful
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Bill Foldberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't hate on the greats, this book rules!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
I bought this used, its a fascinating read; without giving away any details its mostly just letters from his newspaper corespondency, and private letters to other notable writers and members of his family. My only gripe about this book is that the other reviewers say that the advice is useless and nonsensical,I say wrong, wrong wrong! Its a must read for young writers and the advice is only impractical if you're prone to writers block and you don't have a social life or an imagination. if you can't write without your hand being held you're not a writer (and also he writes about writers block in the book ,) I have no idea what expectations the negative reviewers had
Customer image
Bill Foldberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't hate on the greats, this book rules!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2023
I bought this used, its a fascinating read; without giving away any details its mostly just letters from his newspaper corespondency, and private letters to other notable writers and members of his family. My only gripe about this book is that the other reviewers say that the advice is useless and nonsensical,I say wrong, wrong wrong! Its a must read for young writers and the advice is only impractical if you're prone to writers block and you don't have a social life or an imagination. if you can't write without your hand being held you're not a writer (and also he writes about writers block in the book ,) I have no idea what expectations the negative reviewers had
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7 people found this helpful
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the fine reverend besotted
3.0 out of 5 stars Little real instructive information, more interesting as a clue into Hemingway's personality.
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2020
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I found very little actionable advise in this book.

The interest, if there is any, is more in uncovering Hemingway's viewpoint.

What I learned was that Hemingway was a blowhard, often overly opinionated about other equally good (if not better) writers, and overly self-promoting on how "hard" it is to write one "good sentence". He tends to imply that writers have the most difficult job in the world, which they certainly do not.

While Hemingway, at his best - i.e. most of his short stories, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea (as long as it is read as an allegory) - is right up there with me; he also wrote a lot of blather (To Have and Have Not is a 'train wreck') in which he overly croons over uneducated "men of action" and lambasted "writers" who are not "sincere" like him. This opinionated self-importance readily comes through in his letters and such, which constitute what the present book alleges is "advice" on writing.

I did find it interesting that Hemingway refutes that the "sharks" in The Old Man in the Sea are symbolic. He did not believe in symbolism. At least, that is what he implies and this would be consistent with how I view his worldview from reading his works. However, much of his writing is superficial (or simplistic) if not read symbolically. In fact, The Old Man and the Sea is tripe if not read symbolically since it defies reason to believe a fisherman who is starving to death from lack of catching fish is as happy-go-lucky and indifferent as the "old man" is portrayed in that story. It only works as an allegory, despite Hemingway's implication that nothing in that tale is meant to be symbolic.

If you have interest in figuring out who Hemingway was as a man, then this book has some value. As "advice" on writing it has little, other than to tell you to write everyday and treat your writing as the most important thing, not only in your life, but in the world.

Hemingway always writes marvelous sentences, even in letters to his publishers, so it is also worth reading just to hear his arrangement of words.
14 people found this helpful
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Covenant
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the all time greats
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2023
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Hemingway said (paraphrasing) that wanting to get approval for your writing is like a dog wanting approval and wagging it’s tail. He hated approval seeking behavior. He was a man. Not afraid of much. Not afraid to list those he thought were great. I took that list and ordered from Amazon. Noted some negative reviews….people who are not now and will never be known.
2 people found this helpful
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Hal Jordan
4.0 out of 5 stars Ok but very brief and sketchy
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2022
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This book is quite short and consists of brief snippets from Hemingway's stories, novels, and letters. The snippets are organized into broad categories connected in some with writing, although there is substantial repetition across categories. None of the snippets is long enough to be considered a sustained account of Hemingway's views on writings, but here and there he gives interesting tips.

One tip that I have to take issue with is Hemingway's advice that a writer should stop writing for the day while still going strong so as to be able to get off to a good start the next day. Heminway repeats this advice several times, so he presumably followed it himself. Hard to argue with his results! But I'm a strong believer in the opposite advice: Write until the flow has dwindled to a trickle. Get started the next day by revising the previous day's work, which should get you back in the flow. But, then, a Nobel prize is clearly not in my future.
6 people found this helpful
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Bobbie
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure gold
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2020
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What if someone painstakingly went through the whole of Hemingway’s oeuvre (novels, interviews, articles, letters) to find everything he ever said on the subject of writing, then sorted the extracts into 13 categories and bound them together in a little 140-page volume...?
Wow, thanks Larry W. Phillips – this is pure gold. Larry says: “As I brought them together... something unusual happened. Comments apparently made at random, at different times, often decades apart, and in different cities or countries, magically began to fit together like pieces of a puzzle.” Yes, absolutely, and Hemingway’s writing creed is a very marvellous thing. It has me looking back at my note on ‘For whom the bell tolls’ in 2011, unsurprised to find I said: “Wow. A huge book. Up there with War & Peace and Hamlet and a tense, gripping thriller into the bargain. Consummate craft, unwavering sincerity, profound, moving themes.”
Here’s part of the last extract in ‘On Writing’, in the category ‘The writer’s life’: “You must be prepared to work always without applause. When you are excited about something is when the first draft is done. But no one can see it until you have gone over it again and again until you have communicated the emotion, the sights and the sounds to the reader, and by the time you have completed this the words, sometimes, will not make sense to you as you read them, so many times have you re-read them. By the time the book comes out... it is all behind you... but... you read it and you see all the places that now you can do nothing about... Finally, in some other place, some other time, when you can’t work and feel like hell you will pick up the book and look in it and start to read and go on and in a little while say... why this stuff is bloody marvellous.”
9 people found this helpful
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Satish Kamble
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple is Ample
Reviewed in India on August 15, 2018
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Hemingway is a true guide. The simplicity and brevity of writing is explicit enough to penetrate into the heart of readers, I felt after reading it.
One person found this helpful
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rod M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on February 9, 2017
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it was very insightful
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Anthony Edgar
5.0 out of 5 stars A one on one conversation with the man himself
Reviewed in Australia on November 1, 2020
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We have all read his words, but what of his art, his profession, from his perspective. Reading 'Ernest Hemingway On Writing' was, in part, like a one on one conversation with the man himself. His most private thoughts, his explanations, considerations, loves and hates, his favourite writers, his darkness and his brilliance. It showed him as just another man, with a great passion and hard-fought gift. I very much enjoyed Ernest Hemingway On Writing.
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Cliente Amazon
3.0 out of 5 stars Buono ma mi aspettavo meglio
Reviewed in Italy on October 9, 2015
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Dalla descrizione credevo si trattasse di un saggio sullo scrivere o un qualcosa di Hemingway, invece è solo una raccolta di aforismi. In ogni caso molto carino.
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