Book Review - That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan

Synopsis:  It was the fabulous summer of 1929 when the literary capital of North America moved to La Rive Gauche—the Left Bank of the Seine River—in Paris. Ernest Hemingway was reading proofs of A Farewell to Arms, and a few blocks away F. Scott Fitzgerald was struggling with Tender Is the Night. As his first published book rose to fame in New York, Morley Callaghan arrived in Paris to share the felicities of literary life, not just with his two friends, Hemingway and Fitzgerald, but also with fellow writers James Joyce, Ford Madox Ford, and Robert McAlmon. Amidst these tangled relations, some friendships flourished while others failed.

First Line:  "One September afternoon in 1960 I was having a drink with an old newspaper friend, Ken Jonstone, when unexpectedly he told me he had a message to pass on from Ronnie Jacques, the well-known New York photographer."

Random Quote:  "Disgruntled we wandered away from the rue de l'Odeon.  It would be necessary to write Ernest a note explaining that Mr. and Mrs. Callaghan were in residence at the Paris-New York Hotel on the rue Vaugirard, and hoped to hear from him."

Ernest Hemingway, Lady Duff Twysden, Hadley Hemingway, and 3 others - Paris - Image via Wikipedia

Review:  I re-read The Sun Also Rises prior to reading this and it probably did this book a disservice because The Sun Also Rises is just so wonderful and this book definitely suffered in comparison.  The problem, ultimately, is that Hemingway writes like Hemingway and Callaghan writes like a journalist.  There isn't anything wrong with journalism, but given the choice between the gorgeous writing in The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast and the rather flat and dry writing in Callaghan's book, I'm going straight for the pretty stuff.

FTC Disclosure:  San Leandro Public Library

Rating:  White

Reading Challenges:  Birth Year Reading Challenge