3 Review(s)

Relationships, war, and sportsmanship are explored in these classic short tales by the master of American literature.Men Without Women, first published in 1927, has some of Hemingway's most essential and captivating early writing. Hemingway begins to explore themes that will later consume his work in these fourteen stories: war losses, the often tense interaction between men and women, sport and sportsmanship. Hemingway pays a lasting tribute to the legendary matador Maera in "Banal Story." In "In Another Country," an Italian major recovers from combat wounds while mourning his wife's sudden death. "The Killers" is a gritty tale about two Chicago gunmen and a possible victim.Nick Adams appears in "Ten Indians," in which he is allegedly betrayed by Prudence, his Indian girlfriend. And "Hills Like White Elephants" is a tender, heartfelt discussion of abortion by a young couple. These stories show a young Hemingway emerging as America's best short storey writer, pared down, gritty, and quietly evocative.