Men Without Women

Classic short stories from a master of American fiction exploring relationships, war, and sportsmanship.

First published in 1927, Men Without Women represents some of Hemingway’s most important and compelling early writing. In these fourteen stories, Hemingway begins to examine the themes that would occupy his later works: the casualties of war, the often-uneasy relationship between men and women, sports and sportsmanship. ＂In Another Country＂ tells of an Italian major recovering from war wounds as he mourns the untimely death of his wife. ＂The Killers＂ is the hard-edged story about two Chicago gunmen and their potential victim. Nick Adams makes an appearance in ＂Ten Indians,＂ in which he is presumably betrayed by his girlfriend, Prudence. And ＂Hills Like White Elephants＂ is a young couple’s subtle, heart-wrenching discussion about the future. Pared down, gritty, and subtly expressive, these stories show the young Hemingway emerging as one of America’s finest short story writers.

Ernest Hemingway did more to influence the style of English prose than any other writer of his time. He has been called ＂the most important author since Shakespeare,＂ by John O’Hara in The New York Times Book Review. The publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established him as one of the greatest literary lights of the 20th century. His classic novella The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Hemingway was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His life and accomplishments are explored in-depth in the PBS documentary film from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, Hemingway. He died in 1961.