The most unexpected element in the correspondence is the extent of Hemingway's niceness. There is a wonderfully touching letter to Bill Horne after the break-up of his friend's relationship, offering him an escape from his misery. "Bill, if you want to keep the old ideals straight and cut loose from the damned dirty money grubbing for a year I'm your man...we are Simpatico Bill and we could go anywhere and have a good time...And we'll discover every place we go. And we'll have thousands of adventures. And we'll work when we have to and we'll loaf. And we'll live Bill! We'll live!" This is the voice of the young, exuberant and still innocent Hemingway — the one we wanted to be — before the light went out from his eyes.

The book combines the most serious scholarship with great readability — the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who has sat in the Closerie des Lilas with a glass of wine, a copy of A Moveable Feast and a Moleskine notebook.