Walt and Hem: The Unauthorized Story of the Literary Rivalry That Changed American Literature

The Early Years

Walt Whitman and Ernest Hemingway were born in very different times and places. Whitman was born in 1819 on Long Island, New York, to a Quaker family. Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, to a wealthy family of German descent. Despite their different backgrounds, both men would go on to become two of the most important figures in American literature.

Whitman began his literary career as a journalist and poet. He published his first collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, in 1855. The book was met with mixed reviews, but it eventually became one of the most important works of American literature. Hemingway began his literary career as a journalist and short story writer. He published his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, in 1926. The novel was a critical and commercial success, and it helped to establish Hemingway as one of the most important writers of the 20th century.

The Literary Rivalry

Whitman and Hemingway were both brilliant writers, but they had very different styles and approaches to literature. Whitman was a poet who celebrated the beauty of the American landscape and the common man. Hemingway was a novelist and short story writer who wrote about war, love, and loss. Despite their differences, the two men were drawn to each other. They met for the first time in 1927, and they quickly became friends. However, their friendship was also marked by rivalry. Both men were fiercely competitive, and they often argued about literature and life. Their rivalry reached its peak in the 1940s, when they published dueling books about the Spanish Civil War.

The Legacy

Whitman and Hemingway died within a year of each other in the 1960s. They left behind a legacy of work that continues to be read and studied today. Their rivalry is one of the most famous in American literature, and it has helped to shape the way we think about literature and the American experience.