Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and His Last Muse focuses on the final turbulent decade of a life, but Andrea di Robilant captures the full panoply of quirks and conflicts that often made Papa and those closest to him miserable. Lovers, ex-wives, friends, publishers, even complete strangers were forced to dance to the tune he piped ... Still, di Robilant...never fails to empathize with the aging author’s predicament ... A diligent researcher of primary and secondary texts, di Robilant demonstrated in his first book, A Venetian Affair, a gift for weaving fascinating narratives from letters, diaries, archives (including those of the di Robilant family) and previously published work. In this instance he has a treasure trove of material. Chatty as magpies, Mary, Adriana, Gianfranco and even the majordomo René all published memoirs, offering a stereoscopic depiction of events. But the crystallizing point of view, the one that raises this story far above idle gossip, belonged to Hemingway himself.
In this methodically researched account of Ernest Hemingway’s obsession with a much younger woman, Robilant draws heavily on previously unpublished letters and journals ... Autumn in Venice effortlessly and expertly explores the secret desires, successes, and depressive obstacles that shrouded Ernest Hemingway’s final productive years.
Like many other biographers, di Robilant portrays Hemingway as pathetic, petulantly envious of other writers’ successes, often enraged and cruel, and suffering from depression, illnesses, injuries, and the deleterious effects of a lifetime of hard drinking ... A sensitive recounting of a writer’s doomed fantasy.
There are few surprises in this unilluminating account by di Robilant ... In addition to Ivancich’s journals and Hemingway’s letters, di Robilant draws on his own great-uncle Carlo di Robilant’s recollections as a member of Hemingway’s circle at the time. Despite this personal connection, di Robilant’s account of a literary lion famous for his affairs reveals nothing particularly new about a much-written-about writer.
A popular sub-genre of biography is the detailed chronicle of the friendship, often with a whiff of death in the background, between a leading historical figure and a minor, sometimes unknown character.
