Day: April 1, 2021

Week’s top-10 for April 5: Great biographies and new seasons

1) “Hemingway” debut, 8 p.m. today through Wednesday, PBS, rerunning at 10. Ernest Hemingway (shown here) took a unique approach to fiction – cool, efficient, often macho. We see that often here, in brilliant passages read by Jeff Daniels. But Hemingway also molded another fiction – his own image. Yes, he was an outdoors guy, with big torso and regal visage. But he was also a doctor’s son from suburbia, an insecure guy who exaggerated his life. Ken Burns tells the story brilliantly, tracing a life of contrasts. Read more…

Hemingway: a large life, a larger image

Ernest Hemingway’s fame soared in two ways.
As a writer, he was popular and praised. As a person, he was something more.
People knew him (shown here) as a pop-culture figure who traveled the globe and did it all – food, drink, romance, adventure – to excess. It was an impressive reputation … even if some of it wasn’t true.
“The public persona became such a burden to him,” said Lynn Novick, who combined with Ken Burns to mold “Hemingway,” a compelling, three-night documentary that starts Monday (April 5) on PBS, So it was “wonderful to discover him young, before he became that stereotype.” Read more…