Strange TribeStrange Tribe
a Family Memoir
Title rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 5 ratings(5 ratings)
Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , No Longer Available.Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , No Longer Available. Offered in 0 more formatsThis memoir reveals the peculiar dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son, Gregory, the author's father. Gregory tried to live up to Ernest's macho reputation--yet as a cross-dresser and (ultimately) a transsexual, Gregory was obsessed withhis "female half," and he struggled with personal demons until his death. The media called Gregory the "black sheep" of the Hemingway family--but his son wasn't so sure. Here he reveals how Ernest himself felt a special kinship with Gregory, and how the two men (who both suffered from bipolar illness and shared a fascination with androgyny) were actually two sides of the same coin, and that Gregory best exemplified Ernest's ideal of grace under pressure. This is also John's own story of what it was like growing up with his father and his schizophrenic mother, and how he ultimately fled the burden of the Hemingway name and family history.--From publisher description.
The grandson of Ernest Hemingway and the son of Gregory Hemingway, John (b. 1960) has plenty to tell about the family; he does so in a candid yet dignified and respectful manner. His father was a transexual, and his mother, schizophrenic; yet he grew up and found ways to come to terms with more than most people must experience in their youth, surrounded as he was by extreme behavior, mental illness, suicide, and the dominating shadow cast by the literary persona of his famous grandfather. In his twenties John moved to Italy to find his way, and he lives now with his wife and two children in Spain working as a writer and translator. The book includes some interesting family photos. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A family memoir revealing the fascinating dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son, Gregory, written by John Hemingway (grandson of Ernest and son of Gregory).
Strange Tribe is a fascinating memoir revealing the peculiar family dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son Gregory. Gregory, the author’s father, tried to live up to Ernest’s “macho” reputation throughout his life. But as a cross-dresser and (eventually) a transsexual, Gregory was obsessed with androgyny and his "female half,” and he struggled with personal demons up until his death in the Women's Correctional Facility of the Miami Dade County Jail in 2001. In this wonderfully crafted narrative, John reveals how Ernest and Gregory (who both suffered from bipolar illness and were both fascinated by androgyny) were “two sides of the same coin.” Featuring several unpublished correspondences between Ernest and Gregory, Strange Tribe is the story of these two men and the surprising similarities between the two.
This is also John's story--about what it was like growing up in Miami and Montana with his father and his schizophrenic mother, and of how it took him years to deal with the pain their illnesses caused him. He also shows how the persona of Ernest Hemingway, the most important literary icon of the past 100 years, continues to loom darkly over the often-troubled lives of his descendants.
The grandson of Ernest Hemingway and the son of Gregory Hemingway, John (b. 1960) has plenty to tell about the family; he does so in a candid yet dignified and respectful manner. His father was a transexual, and his mother, schizophrenic; yet he grew up and found ways to come to terms with more than most people must experience in their youth, surrounded as he was by extreme behavior, mental illness, suicide, and the dominating shadow cast by the literary persona of his famous grandfather. In his twenties John moved to Italy to find his way, and he lives now with his wife and two children in Spain working as a writer and translator. The book includes some interesting family photos. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A family memoir revealing the fascinating dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son, Gregory, written by John Hemingway (grandson of Ernest and son of Gregory).
Strange Tribe is a fascinating memoir revealing the peculiar family dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son Gregory. Gregory, the author’s father, tried to live up to Ernest’s “macho” reputation throughout his life. But as a cross-dresser and (eventually) a transsexual, Gregory was obsessed with androgyny and his "female half,” and he struggled with personal demons up until his death in the Women's Correctional Facility of the Miami Dade County Jail in 2001. In this wonderfully crafted narrative, John reveals how Ernest and Gregory (who both suffered from bipolar illness and were both fascinated by androgyny) were “two sides of the same coin.” Featuring several unpublished correspondences between Ernest and Gregory, Strange Tribe is the story of these two men and the surprising similarities between the two.
This is also John's story--about what it was like growing up in Miami and Montana with his father and his schizophrenic mother, and of how it took him years to deal with the pain their illnesses caused him. He also shows how the persona of Ernest Hemingway, the most important literary icon of the past 100 years, continues to loom darkly over the often-troubled lives of his descendants.
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- Guilford, CT : Lyons Press, c2007.
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