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A Moveable Feast is a memoir by Ernest Hemingway about his years as a struggling expatriate journalist and writer in Paris during the 1920s. It was published posthumously on May 5, 1964.[1][2] The book chronicles Hemingway's first marriage to Hadley Richardson and his relationships with other cultural figures of the Lost Generation in interwar France.

Key Information

Hemingway's memoir references many notable figures of the time including Sylvia Beach, Hilaire Belloc, Bror von Blixen-Finecke, Aleister Crowley, John Dos Passos, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, Pascin, Ezra Pound, Evan Shipman, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Hermann von Wedderkop. The work mentions many bars, cafes, and hotels that still exist in Paris today.

Ernest Hemingway's suicide in July 1961 delayed the publication of the book, but it was published posthumously in 1964 by his fourth wife and widow, Mary Hemingway, from the original manuscripts and notes. Another edition, with revisions by his grandson Seán Hemingway, was published in 2009.

Background

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In November 1956, Hemingway recovered two small steamer trunks containing his notebooks from the 1920s that he had stored in the basement of the Hôtel Ritz Paris in March 1928. Hemingway's friend and biographer A. E. Hotchner, who was with him in Paris in 1956, recalled the event:[3]

In 1956, Ernest and I were having lunch at the Hôtel Ritz Paris with Charles Ritz, the hotel's chairman, when Charley asked if Ernest was aware that a trunk of his was in the basement storage room, left there in 1930. Ernest did not remember storing the trunk but he did recall that in the 1920s Louis Vuitton had made a special trunk for him. Ernest had wondered what had become of it. Charley had the trunk brought up to his office, and after lunch Ernest opened it. It was filled with a ragtag collection of clothes, menus, receipts, memos, hunting and fishing paraphernalia, skiing equipment, racing forms, correspondence and, on the bottom, something that elicited a joyful reaction from Ernest: 'The notebooks! So that's where they were! Enfin!' There were two stacks of lined notebooks like the ones used by schoolchildren in Paris when he lived there in the '20s. Ernest had filled them with his careful handwriting while sitting in his favorite café, nursing a café crème. The notebooks described the places, the people, the events of his penurious life.Hotchner, A. E. (2009-07-19). "Don't Touch 'A Moveable Feast'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-12-08.

Hemingway had the notebooks transcribed and began to turn them into the memoir that would eventually become A Moveable Feast.[4] After Hemingway's death in 1961, his widow Mary Hemingway made final copy-edits to the manuscript before its publication in 1964.[3][4] In a "note" in the 1964 edition of the work, she wrote:

Ernest started writing this book in Cuba in the autumn of 1957, worked on it in Ketchum, Idaho, in the winter of 1958-59, took it with him to Spain ... in April, 1959, and brought it back with him to Cuba and then to Ketchum late that fall. He finished the book in the spring of 1960 in Cuba.... He made some revisions ... in the fall of 1960 in Ketchum. It concerns the years 1921 to 1926 in Paris. - M.H. [5]

Researchers, including literary scholar Gerry Brenner from the University of Montana, examined Hemingway's notes and initial drafts of A Moveable Feast in the collection the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts. In a 1982 paper titled "Are We Going to Hemingway's Feast?", Brenner documented Mary Hemingway's editing process and questioned its validity. He concluded that some of her changes were misguided and that others had questionable motives.[6] Brenner suggested that the changes contradicted Mary's "hands off" policy as executor.[4] Brenner stated that Mary had changed the order of the chapters in Hemingway's final draft to "preserve chronology" and disrupted the juxtaposition of character sketches of individuals like Sylvia Beach, owner of the bookstore Shakespeare and Company, and Gertrude Stein.[citation needed] Mary reinserted a chapter titled "Birth of a New School", which Hemingway had dropped from his draft.[citation needed] Brenner's most serious charge was that the 1964 book deleted Hemingway's lengthy apology to Hadley, his first wife, which had appeared in various forms in every draft of the book.[citation needed] Brenner suggested that Mary deleted it because it impugned her role as wife.[citation needed]

Biographer Hotchner said that he had received a near final draft of A Moveable Feast in 1959, and that the version Mary Hemingway published was essentially the draft he had read then. In Hotchner's view, the original 1964 publication was the version that Hemingway intended and Mary Hemingway carried out Ernest's intentions.[3] Hotchner described Hemingway's memoir as "a serious work", which Hemingway "certainly intended it for publication", and contended: "Because Mary was busy with matters relating to Ernest's estate, she had little involvement with the book.... What I read on the plane coming back from Cuba [in 1959] was essentially what was published. There was no extra chapter created by Mary.[3]

Title

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If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast. - Ernest Hemingway, to a friend, 1950

epigraph on title page of A Moveable Feast, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1964, p. v.

The title, A Moveable Feast (a play on words for the term used for a holy day for which the date is not fixed), was suggested by Hemingway's friend and biographer A. E. Hotchner, who remembered Hemingway using the term in 1950.[7] Hotchner's recollection of Hemingway's words became the source of the epigraph on the title page for the 1964 edition.[7]

Chapters

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The 1964 edition of Hemingway's memoir consists of a preface by Hemingway (pg. ix), a "note" by his widow (pg. xi), and 20 independent chapters or sections.[8] Each one can be read as a stand-alone piece or entity, not dependent upon the context of the whole work, nor necessarily arranged in any chronological order:[8]

Publishing history

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The first edition was edited from Hemingway's manuscripts and notes by Mary Hemingway, his fourth wife and widow, and published posthumously in 1964, three years after Hemingway's death.[3][4]

In 2009, another edition, titled the "Restored Edition", was published by Hemingway's grandson Seán Hemingway, curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[9]. The 2009 edition made numerous changes:

  • The introductory letter by Hemingway, pieced together from various fragments by Mary Hemingway,[citation needed] was removed.
  • The chapter called "Birth of a New School" and sections of "Ezra Pound and the Measuring Worm" and "There Is Never Any End to Paris" (which has been renamed as "Winter in Schruns" and moved to chapter 16) included earlier omissions. The unpublished "The Pilot Fish and the Rich" was added.
  • Chapter 7 ("Shakespeare and Company") became chapter 3; chapter 16 ("Nada y Pues Nada") moved to the end of the book as an "Additional Paris Sketch".
  • Hemingway's use of the second person was restored in many places, a change that Seán said "brings the reader into the story".[10]

From the new foreword by Patrick Hemingway:

"[H]ere is the last bit of professional writing by my father, the true foreword to A Moveable Feast: 'This book contains material from the remises of my memory and of my heart. Even if the one has been tampered with and the other does not exist'."[11]

Reception

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Bennett Cerf

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In 1964, Sheilah Graham appeared as a contestant on the CBS Television series What's My Line?, 23 years after the death of her boyfriend F. Scott Fitzgerald.[12][13] This was telecast live on June 7, 1964, when A Moveable Feast was on bestseller lists.[12][13] Bennett Cerf, the head of Random House who had known Sylvia Beach personally,[14] and who was a regular panelist on the network television series, initiated the topic of Hemingway's new bestselling book.[12][15]

Cerf: Miss Graham, after, after this new Hemingway book, I hope you're going to answer some of the remarks that were made in that book about Scott Fitzgerald.

Graham: Well, I would like to. I'm not sure I'm the right person, although I am the right person... Cerf: Ah, you certainly are the right person. Graham: ... to answer that. I thought it was rather dreadfully cruel to Scott Fitzgerald and, untrue in, uh, in certain areas, shall we say. Cerf: Well, I hope you'll straighten the record.

Graham: [unintelligible] ... try


Reactions to the 2009 edition

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A.E. Hotchner alleged, among his other criticisms of the 2009 edition, that Seán Hemingway had edited it, in part, to exclude references to his grandmother (Hemingway's second wife Pauline Pfeiffer) that he found less than flattering.[3] On the 2009 edition, Hotchner said:

"Ernest was very protective of the words he wrote, words that gave the literary world a new style of writing. Surely he has the right to have these words protected against frivolous incursion, like this reworked volume that should be called "A Moveable Book".[3]

Other critics have found fault with some of Seán Hemingway's editorial changes.[16] Irene Gammel wrote about the new edition: "Ethically and pragmatically, restoring an author's original intent is a slippery slope when the published text has stood the test of time and when edits have been approved by authors or their legal representatives." Pointing to the complexity of authorship, she concluded that "Mary's version should be considered the definitive one, while the 'restored' version provides access to important unpublished contextual sources that illuminate the evolution of the 1964 edition."[17]

Legacy

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Adaptations

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On September 15, 2009, Variety reported that Mariel Hemingway, a granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, had acquired the film and television rights to the memoir with American film producer John Goldstone.[18] The Hollywood Reporter wrote in March 2011 that Jeff Baena was writing a film adaptation for an indie production.[19] In 2019, it was reported that a television series was being developed through Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, but there was no planned release date.[20][21]

Cultural references

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In films

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  • The comedy film The Moderns (1988) brings the characters of A Moveable Feast to life while spoofing the pretense of the Lost Generation.
  • The book is featured in the movie City of Angels (1998) during an exchange between Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.
  • Woody Allen's 2011 film Midnight in Paris is set in the Paris of the 1920s as portrayed in Hemingway's book, and the movie features the Owen Wilson character interacting with Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and uses the phrase "a moveable feast" in two instances.
  • The Words (2012) uses an excerpt from A Moveable Feast to represent a book manuscript found in an old messenger bag.
  • In the American movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), one of the books on the shelf in the character Steve Rogers' apartment is Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.
  • In the American film French Postcards (1979), a character quotes the epigraph from the book in order to convince a fellow American student who is studying in France with him to not only study, but enjoy life in Paris.
  • In the American comedy film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), a stripper named Tits Hemingway says she got the latter part of her name because her favorite novel is A Moveable Feast.

In literature

[edit]

In stage performances

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  • In his stand-up performances in the late 1960s, Woody Allen performed a routine that referenced the recently published book and described imaginary times spent with Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, and Gertrude Stein with the recurring punch line: "And Hemingway punched me in the mouth."[22]

Revival in France

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A Moveable Feast became a bestseller in France following the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.[23] In the context of the attacks, the book's French-language title, Paris est une fête, was seen as a symbol of defiance and celebration. Bookstore sales of the volume surged and copies of the book appeared in makeshift memorials across the city in honor of victims of the attacks.[23][24]

Hemingway's wine

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In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway described what life was like for aspiring writers in 1920s Paris. In addition to writing about his friendships, marriage, and writing routine in Parisian cafes, Hemingway also discussed his love of good wine, noting the different wines he and his friends enjoyed with their meals.[25]

  • Sancerre: A False Spring, "Another day later that year when we had come back from one of our voyages and had good luck at some track again we stopped at Prunier's on the way home, going in to sit at the bar after looking at the clearly priced wonders in the window. We had oysters and crab mexicane with glasses of Sancerre."[26]
  • Mâcon: Scott Fitzgerald, "We had a marvellous lunch from the hotel at Lyon, an excellent truffled roast chicken, delicious bread and white Mâcon wine and Scott was very happy when we drank the white Maconnais at each of our stops. At Mâcon I had bought four more bottles of excellent wine which I uncorked as we needed them."[27]
  • Corsican: With Pascin at the Dôme, "At home, over the sawmill, we had a Corsican wine that had a great authority and a low price. It was a very Corsican wine and you could dilute it by half with water and still receive its message."[28]
  • Cahors: With Pascin at the Dôme, "At the Negre de Toulouse we drank the good Cahors wine from the quarter, the half or the full carafe, usually diluting it about one-third with water...In Paris, then, you could live very well on almost nothing and by skipping meals occasionally and never buying any new clothes, you could save and have luxuries."[29]

In September 2020, Chiswick Book Festival featured a wine and literature event celebrating Hemingway's wine in A Moveable Feast presented by Victoria Daskal.[30]

References

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Bibliography

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Further reading

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

A Moveable Feast

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from Grokipedia
A Moveable Feast is a by the American author , recounting his experiences as a young expatriate writer in during the . Published posthumously in 1964 by , three years after Hemingway's death, the book consists of twenty vignettes rewritten from his personal notebooks dating from 1921 to 1926. The memoir vividly captures Hemingway's early married life with his first wife, , the birth of their son Jack, and his immersion in the vibrant expatriate community of post-World War I . It features intimate portraits of key literary figures from the era, including , , , , and , whose relationships with Hemingway influenced his development as a . Through these sketches, Hemingway evokes the bohemian atmosphere of the city, its cafés, and the sense of artistic renewal amid the disillusionment of the "." Originally edited by Hemingway's fourth wife, , the 1964 edition included an epilogue reflecting on his later regrets about leaving and Hadley. A restored edition, published in 2009 and edited by his grandson Seán Hemingway, adheres more closely to the author's manuscripts released in 1979, restoring deleted sections, unfinished sketches, and appendices with previously omitted material. This version highlights Hemingway's intended structure and provides additional context from family recollections, such as forewords by his son . Widely regarded as one of Hemingway's most enduring works, A Moveable Feast offers a nostalgic yet candid glimpse into the formative years that shaped his minimalist prose style and themes of and . The title, derived from a quote in the book—"If you are lucky enough to have lived in as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for is a moveable feast"—has become emblematic of the city's enduring allure for artists. Its publication revitalized interest in Hemingway's legacy, influencing subsequent memoirs and cultural depictions of .

Background and Composition

Manuscript Discovery

In 1956, while staying at the Ritz Hotel in , was approached by the hotel management, who informed him that two small steamer trunks stored in the basement since March 1928 were deteriorating and needed to be reclaimed. The trunks, covered in faded fabric and locked for nearly three decades, had been preserved by the hotel staff despite the challenges of the intervening years, including the German occupation during . Upon their delivery to Hemingway's suite, the contents revealed a treasure trove of forgotten materials from his early life, including a dozen or more lined notebooks filled with sketches, along with typed , newspaper clippings, letters, and personal artifacts such as old clothing and books. The notebooks primarily documented Hemingway's experiences in 1920s Paris between 1921 and 1926, capturing vivid observations of daily routines, chance encounters with artists and writers, and the sensory details of the city's streets, cafés, and seasons. These sketches offered raw glimpses into his developing craft, including notes on writing habits, financial struggles, and interactions with figures like and . The hotel's role in safeguarding the trunks—initially stored as Hemingway departed for the —ensured the survival of these documents, which might otherwise have been lost to time or circumstance. Hemingway's reaction to the discovery was profoundly emotional, blending surprise, joy, and a renewed sense of purpose. As he examined the yellowed pages in his suite, he exclaimed to his wife Mary, "It's wonderful... It was just as hard for me to write then as it is now. Cheering," reflecting on the continuity of his artistic struggles. Upon returning to the in early 1957, he immersed himself in the materials, deciding to transform them into a of his Paris apprenticeship, a project that would become A Moveable Feast. The contents were carefully transferred to new containers for safekeeping, preserving their integrity for future use.

Writing and Editing Process

Hemingway began composing A Moveable Feast in the autumn of 1957 while residing at his finca in San Francisco de Paula, , before continuing the work during the winter of 1958–1959 at his home in . He further developed the manuscript in during the spring of 1959, making additions and subtractions, and in Paris during the spring of 1960, resuming revisions in Ketchum over the winter of 1959–1960 and again in the fall of 1960. This period of composition occurred amid Hemingway's deteriorating physical and , marked by severe depression, , and the lingering effects of multiple accidents, including plane crashes in 1954 that exacerbated his and following his win that same year. The memoir's structure consists of interconnected vignettes recounting episodes from Hemingway's Paris years between 1921 and 1926, eschewing a strictly linear chronology in favor of evocative, episodic sketches that capture the essence of his formative experiences as a . This approach aligns with his longstanding of composition, articulated in works like (1932) and reflected in A Moveable Feast, where surface-level details imply deeper emotional and thematic undercurrents, omitting explicit exposition to engage the reader's . Hemingway intended the book as a nostalgic reflection on his early career, evoking the vibrancy of his apprentice days amid the city's artistic milieu, while using the vignettes to meditate on the craft of writing and personal growth. Following Hemingway's in July 1961, his widow , serving as literary executor, collaborated with Scribner's editor Harry Brague to prepare the manuscript for publication in 1963–1964. Their editorial process involved reorganizing chapters for better flow, composing an introductory note from Mary's perspective to contextualize the work's origins, and appending additional materials such as canceled chapters and fragments to provide insight into Hemingway's compositional choices. Hemingway himself had made targeted revisions during the late 1950s and 1960, softening portrayals and altering details to safeguard the reputations of still-living contemporaries, ensuring the memoir balanced candid recollection with discretion.

Title and Content

Origin of the Title

The title A Moveable Feast derives from an epigraph that Hemingway included in the memoir, stating: "If you are lucky enough to have lived in as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for is a moveable feast." This phrase was drawn from a conversation Hemingway had in 1950 with his friend and biographer at the Ritz Bar in , where Hemingway described his enduring attachment to the city in those terms; Hotchner later suggested the wording as the book's title to Mary Hemingway after Ernest's in 1961, as it did not appear anywhere in the original manuscript. The expression "" alludes to a concept in , referring to religious observances whose dates vary from year to year, most notably , which is calculated based on the and the spring equinox. Hemingway, who converted to Catholicism in , employed this terminology to evoke the fluid, recurring nature of his Parisian experiences, transforming the ecclesiastical idea into a for a source of nourishment and renewal that shifts yet persists. In this context, the title encapsulates the memoir's central theme of portable memories from Hemingway's years in , portraying the city not as a fixed location but as an internalized, movable wellspring of inspiration that accompanied him throughout his life.

Chapters and Key Figures

A Moveable Feast is structured as a series of episodic, non-chronological vignettes that capture Ernest Hemingway's experiences in from 1921 to 1926. The 1964 edition consists of 20 such vignettes, along with a by Hemingway and an introduction by Mary Hemingway. The 2009 restored edition follows Hemingway's intended order for the main chapters (approximately 20 vignettes), supplemented by a by , an introduction by Seán Hemingway, and additional sections including previously omitted sketches and fragments. These sketches blend and reflection, drawing on Hemingway's notebooks to evoke the daily rhythms of expatriate life without adhering to a linear timeline. The book features vivid portraits of key literary and personal figures from the , portraying them through intimate anecdotes that highlight their influences on Hemingway's early career. appears as a mentor in the vignette "Miss Stein Instructs," where she offers guidance on writing and coins the phrase "" to describe the postwar youth. is depicted as a talented but flawed friend in chapters like "Scott Fitzgerald" and "Hawks Do Not Share," illustrating their complex camaraderie amid Fitzgerald's personal struggles. , Hemingway's first wife, embodies an ideal of uncomplicated love and support, particularly in "A False Spring," which reflects on their early marriage and shared hardships. emerges as a generous and advocate in "Ezra Pound and His Bel Esprit," aiding aspiring writers through informal networks. Other notable figures include , glimpsed in "Shakespeare and Company" as an enigmatic genius at Sylvia Beach's bookstore, and , satirized in "Ford Madox Ford and the Devil's Disciple" for his pretentiousness amid the café scene. Central themes revolve around the challenges and rewards of life, including the grinding that tested Hemingway's resilience, as in "Hunger Was Good Discipline," where he describes scavenging for food while honing his craft. Literary ambition permeates the narrative, emphasizing disciplined routines and the pursuit of authentic prose amid the bohemian energy of 1920s . The vibrancy of cafés serves as a recurring backdrop, symbolizing exchange and fleeting joys, while reflections on lost innocence underscore the end of Hemingway's first marriage and the illusions of youth. Specific vignettes illustrate these elements, such as "A Good Café on the Place St.-Michel," which details Hemingway's writing habits in affordable, unpretentious spots that fostered focus away from distractions. In "Miss Stein Instructs," Stein's salon becomes a site of artistic instruction, where she critiques Hemingway's work and shares insights on and simplicity in narrative.

Publication History

1964 Edition

A Moveable Feast was published posthumously on May 10, , by in the United States and by in the , less than three years after Ernest Hemingway's suicide on July 2, 1961. The book, a of Hemingway's early years in , drew from notebooks and sketches he began compiling in the late 1950s after recovering his stored papers from the Ritz Hotel in 1956. Mary Hemingway, the author's widow and fourth wife, provided a preface detailing the assembly of the volume from her husband's unfinished manuscripts and typescripts, which she discovered in a blue presentation box after his death. Critic urged her to publish the book, and she collaborated with Scribner's editor Harry Brague to refine the work, involving minor excisions for clarity and reordering of chapters to enhance narrative continuity while adhering closely to Ernest's original phrasing and intent. Mary justified the inclusion of sensitive personal details—particularly those concerning Hemingway's first marriage to and his subsequent relationships—by emphasizing that the book represented his deliberate reflections on youth and betrayal, conceived as a "biography by remate" (a term for writing through hindsight), and that he had explicitly marked the as ready for publication. The initial print run of 10,500 copies sold out rapidly, propelling the book to status within weeks of its release. To provide additional context and closure, Mary Hemingway wrote a , and the book includes an titled "There is Never Any End to ," in which Hemingway reflects on his later visit to and expresses regrets over the end of his marriage to .

2009 Restored Edition

The 2009 restored edition of A Moveable Feast was published in July by Scribner, a division of , and edited by Seán Hemingway, the author's grandson. This version draws directly from the original manuscript that had prepared for publication, aiming to present the text as close as possible to his intentions before his death in 1961. Unlike the 1964 edition, which had been shaped by posthumous editing, the restored edition addresses perceived editorial flaws in the earlier version by reinstating material omitted during that process. Key restorations include the addition of previously omitted chapters such as "," which candidly addresses Hemingway's during his first , and "Birth of a ," along with other sections that had been excluded. The edition also removes Mary Hemingway's and the appendices that appeared in the version, allowing the narrative to flow more closely to Hemingway's unaltered structure. Seán Hemingway's introduction provides detailed textual comparisons between the manuscripts and explains the editorial choices, emphasizing the goal of capturing the author's authentic voice without later interventions. The restored edition incorporates added photographs of Hemingway and his contemporaries, as well as scholarly notes to contextualize the content, enhancing its appeal for both general readers and academics. It achieved commercial success, reaching the bestseller list and reintroducing the to a new generation of readers.

Reception

Initial Reviews

Upon its 1964 publication, A Moveable Feast garnered significant praise for its nostalgic evocation of 1920s Paris and the expatriate literary scene of the Lost Generation. In The New York Times, Charles Poore hailed it as Hemingway "at his best," commending the vivid scenes of the city and the "Goyesque portraits in full color" of figures like Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He emphasized how no one had captured Paris in the twenties as effectively, with details like living above a sawmill at 113 Rue Notre Dame des Champs bringing the era to life. Time magazine similarly celebrated the memoir's "tragic grace" and nostalgic charm, portraying it as "an invitation to laugh with him amid the scenes of his youth, where he was happier than he would ever be again." The review described the 20 sketches as "well-tooled tales" of Hemingway's impoverished yet joyful early days, polished by a lifetime of craft and evoking the exuberance of his formative years. Alfred Kazin, writing in The Atlantic, praised the book's lyrical depiction of Paris as "the best place in the world to live and work," capturing the Lost Generation's restless creativity through Hemingway's fond recollections of his twenties. He noted the memoir's suave nostalgia, with the older Hemingway drawing a "strong, modest, loving" self-portrait at age 22 amid the city's streets and cafés. Critics also highlighted elements of bitterness, particularly in Hemingway's portrayals of contemporaries. , in another New York Times review, appreciated the "controlled lyricism" in passages about and Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, but faulted the underlying "loathing and bitterness" toward the rich and individuals like Fitzgerald, whose sketches seemed savagely motivated by personal grudge rather than literary purpose. Kazin echoed this, decrying the "mean-spirited" exploitation of weaknesses in Stein, Fitzgerald, and . Questions arose about the authenticity of the posthumously edited text, with Atkinson wondering why certain "thin and stupid" anecdotes—such as those involving —were included, suggesting they served as veiled "messages" for insiders rather than contributing to the narrative. Time noted Hemingway's own urging readers to treat it as , casting doubt on the veracity of some episodes. Despite these reservations, the book achieved broad acclaim and commercial success as a , reinforcing Hemingway's enduring legacy in the wake of his 1961 by immortalizing the Lost Generation's bohemian ethos in .

Responses to the Restored Edition

The of the 2009 restored edition of A Moveable Feast ignited significant controversy, particularly from , Hemingway's longtime friend and biographer, who accused editor Seán Hemingway of making unauthorized alterations to the text. In a New York Times op-ed, Hotchner argued that the changes, including the removal of certain sections and addition of others, were motivated by Seán's desire to portray his grandmother more favorably, thereby undermining the integrity of the original manuscript. He staunchly defended the 1964 edition as the version Hemingway had meticulously prepared and intended for publication, emphasizing that posthumous revisions violated and that Scribner bore responsibility for allowing such edits. In contrast, several s welcomed the restored edition for its closer fidelity to Hemingway's original manuscript, viewing it as a valuable corrective to Mary Hemingway's earlier editorial interventions. Literary critic Jacqueline Tavernier-Courbin, for instance, praised the reorganization of chapters and reinstatement of omitted material, arguing that it provided a truer representation of Hemingway's evolving reflections on his years. Similarly, in The Hemingway Review, textual R. W. Trogdon commended Seán Hemingway's work as the best-handled among Scribner's posthumous Hemingway publications, noting its accessibility for general readers while offering s sufficient manuscript details for independent analysis. These responses highlighted the edition's alignment with the author's typed drafts, restoring elements like proper chapter sequencing that had been altered in 1964. Central to the debates was the restored edition's inclusion of more candid passages, particularly in the new section "Fragments from a Book in Progress," where Hemingway openly addressed his personal failings, regrets over his divorces, and tormented later years—content Mary Hemingway had excised to present a more polished narrative. Critics like those in the appreciated these additions for revealing a less controlled, more vulnerable Hemingway, aligning with his raw stylistic authenticity and offering deeper insights into his relationships, such as with . However, detractors like Hotchner contended that such inclusions distorted Hemingway's final vision, sparking broader discussions on editorial ethics and the balance between authenticity and sensitivity in posthumous works. The restored edition differs from the 1964 version primarily through its adherence to the original manuscript's structure, adding approximately 50 pages of previously unpublished vignettes. The controversy surrounding the edition not only fueled academic interest but also contributed to a commercial resurgence, with the book achieving status upon release and prompting renewed scholarly scrutiny. Publications like The Hemingway Review featured comparative analyses of the two versions, examining textual variants and their implications for interpreting Hemingway's memoiristic style, thereby elevating the work's status in literary studies.

Legacy

Adaptations

A Moveable Feast has inspired several direct adaptations across audio, stage, and screen formats, though many remain unproduced or limited in scope. Audiobooks of the memoir have been widely available since the 1990s, with notable recordings including the 2006 edition narrated by actor James Naughton, capturing the introspective tone of Hemingway's reflections on 1920s Paris. The 2009 restored edition audiobook, narrated by John Bedford Lloyd, features a personal foreword by Patrick Hemingway, Ernest's son and sole surviving child, which emphasizes the familial and emotional connections to the original manuscript. In 2014, screenwriter Michael Hirst—known for Elizabeth—and Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter announced an unproduced centered on the author's early marriage to and their expatriate life in . The project, which aimed to dramatize key vignettes from the book, has not advanced to production. A television series adaptation was announced in 2019 by Entertainment Group, with producers including , John Goldstone, and Marc Rosen. The series was planned to adapt select chapters exploring Hemingway's relationships with figures like and , but as of 2025, it remains in development without a writer, director, or release date attached. On stage, Book-It Repertory Theatre in presented a 2017 adaptation directed by Jane K. Brown, which integrated live dinner scenes to evoke the memoir's culinary and social vignettes, performed as part of the company's literary adaptation series.

Cultural References and Revivals

A Moveable Feast has permeated popular culture through subtle allusions in film, often invoking the nostalgic allure of 1920s Paris described in Hemingway's memoir. In Woody Allen's (2011), the protagonist time-travels to the city's expatriate scene, where direct quotes from the book, such as references to Paris as "a moveable feast," underscore themes of artistic inspiration and lost golden ages. Similarly, in (2014), Steve Rogers is depicted reading the book during a jogging scene, symbolizing his longing for a simpler, pre-war era amid modern turmoil. The memoir's portrayal of Hemingway's early marriage and literary circle has influenced contemporary fiction and travel writing. Paula McLain's (2011) draws heavily from A Moveable Feast to fictionalize the perspective of Hemingway's first wife, , exploring the emotional undercurrents of their Parisian life. In modern travelogues, the book serves as a touchstone for evoking the city's bohemian past, with authors citing its vivid depictions of cafés and streets to guide readers through contemporary . Following the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, A Moveable Feast—known in French as Paris est une fête—experienced a remarkable revival, topping bestseller lists as a symbol of cultural resilience and the city's enduring spirit. Public readings and tributes, including at iconic sites like Shakespeare and Company bookstore, highlighted the memoir's themes of joy amid hardship, with copies left at attack sites like the Bataclan as acts of defiance. This surge in popularity, driven by social media recommendations and media coverage, reaffirmed the book's role in celebrating Paris's literary heritage during times of crisis. The Chiswick Book Festival in September 2020 hosted a wine and event centered on A Moveable Feast, where presenter Victoria Daskal explored Hemingway's references to wine, blending discussion with tastings to honor the book's sensory depictions of . Reflections on the memoir's enduring appeal marked 2023, with articles revisiting its insights into youth, writing, and expatriate life in , coinciding with broader centennial considerations of Hemingway's early career milestones. These discussions emphasized how the book's nostalgic lens continues to resonate, offering timeless commentary on creativity and transience.

References

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