Ernest Hemingway – 1899-1961

Many regard Hemingway as the greatest American novelist and short story writer of the 20th century. He was celebrated as much for his lean writing style—in which there seemed not a single superfluous word —as for his compelling treatment of themes of masculine identity, morality, and courage. A member of what Gertrude Stein called the “lost generation” of post-World War I writers and artists, Hemingway created fictional heroes in search of meaning in a morally and spiritually shattered world. In the process, he carved out for himself the life of a celebrity author, whose very public thirst for high-risk adventure was unquenchable. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.