Hemingway's Attic

Reveals hidden depths of the Hemingway mystique through the eyes of a modern writer who spent a decade immersed in the legendary author’s attic

Hemingway’s Attic offers a fresh perspective on Ernest Hemingway’s life in Cuba from 1950 to 1952, shining a new light on the years leading up to his masterpiece, The Old Man and the Sea. While much has been written about Hemingway’s life, covering his childhood, sexuality, genius, strange proclivities, and flaws, this book delves into a period that remains largely unexplored—Hemingway’s two years in Cuba between his biggest failure, Across the River and into the Trees, and his greatest triumph, The Old Man and the Sea. 

Set in the twilight of his career, these two years reveal Hemingway at his most destructive, tragic, and brutal. Living in an alternate world ninety miles off the coast of Florida, he abandoned Key West for a life in Cuba and navigated the consequences of a life by his own rules.

The narrative is enriched by the unique viewpoint of a modern writer who spent a decade working in Hemingway’s attic from 1998 to 2008, becoming immersed in the business and mythology of Hemingway, and even meeting two of his sons. This book captures both the roller coaster of Hemingway's life in Cuba and the legacy of one of America’s most influential literary figures.