Coral Gables, FL: Books and Books Press (May 31, 2022)

Hardback.

As new in decorated boards.

In The Importance of Not Being Ernest, the New York Times bestselling author of Salt turns his unique voice and historical eye to the life of Ernest Hemingway, as well as his own.

By a series of coincidences, Mark Kurlansky’s life has always been intertwined with Ernest Hemingway’s legend, starting with his being in Idaho the day of Hemingway’s death. The Importance of Not Being Ernest explores the intersections between Hemingway’s and Kurlansky’s lives, resulting in vivid accounts of two inspiring writing careers.

Travel the world with both authors in this entertaining and illuminative memoir, where Kurlansky details his ten years in Paris, his time as a journalist in Spain, and anecdotes set in Key West, Havana, and Ketchum, Idaho – all places important to Hemingway’s adventurous life and prolific writing.

Mark Kurlansky was born in Hartford, Connecticut. After receiving a BA in Theater from Butler University in 1970-and refusing to serve in the military-Kurlansky worked in New York as a playwright, having a number of off-off Broadway productions, and as a playwright-in-residence at Brooklyn College. He has worked many other jobs, including as a commercial fisherman, a dock worker, a paralegal, a cook, and a pastry chef. In the mid-1970s he turned to journalism, and from 1976 to 1991 he worked as a foreign correspondent for The International Herald Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Based in Paris and then Mexico, he reported on Europe, West Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Time, The New York Times and many more. He has had 35 books published including fiction, nonfiction, and children's books. His books include Havana, Cod, Salt, Paper, The Basque History of the World, 1968, The Big Oyster, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appetit's Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He lives in New York City.