Winners Take Nothing

The stories in "Winner Take Nothing," written when Hemingway was at the height of his creative abilities, gleam with the mark of his singular ability. Hunters, wives, wise old men, waiters, fighters, loved and lost women: they're all here, living on the edge, making love, and facing death's unavoidable truth. Characters, language, situations, and the extraordinary insight could only have come from Hemingway's mind. It is a spectacularly successful compilation as an introduction to his work or as an overview of the issues he explores in greater depth in his novels.