The Hemingway Stories: As featured in the film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on PBS

When Ken Burns takes on a new subject and makes a film about it, viewers know they will have a much greater understanding of the subject when they are through watching the film. There was no disappointment with the Ken Burns film of Hemingway except that one might not have the opportunity to read each of the stories discussed in the film. This compendium is an excellent companion for viewers with many of the short stories that were discussed in the film chosen and introduced by Tobias Wolff. Each story also has short commentaries from Tobias Wolff, Edna O’Brien, Abraham, Verghese, Tim O’Brien, Mary Karr, and more. They represent work from 1923 to 1939 and are a fine way to show the evolution of Hemingway’s writing. Many think, although he had several successful novels, the short story was the writing form Hemingway had mastered more than any other. With stories like Up in Michigan, Big Two-Hearted River, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, readers have a fair representation of his stories, although there are holes if one is looking for a complete collection. This is not that, but it is an outstanding compilation of Hemingway’s stories.