“... soprano: ‘“No; indeed she shan’t,” Mrs Sixsmith snapped. “You may rely on me, Ernest, for that!”’It’s as if we ought to know who this Mrs Sixsmith is, and so ought Sarah, since she’s the recurrent figure of the deceitful agent, the protector as exploiter, introducing the young ingénue to a world of theatrical connections and ...”

“... new continent his Christian name, and to demonstrate his own integrity as an investigative author. Hemingway’s sense of accuracy on the page is the reverse effect of the lies he told about himself. Kipling, on the other hand, probably never told a lie in his life, although his stories tell plenty. Hardy was distinctly economical with the truth about ...”

“... Douglas strongly insists, may provoke some opposition. For example, she says more than once that Hemingway proved to be a better writer about the war than Robert Graves or Siegfried Sassoon, even though they saw a lot more fighting than he did, precisely because he was not, as they were, hampered by a literary education and training in ‘conventional ...”

“... intellect of man is forced to choose/Perfection of the life, or of the work’) Kermode says of Hemingway that ‘he wanted perfection of the life as well as of the work but accepted the Romantic myth that you can’t have both (the truth being that you can’t have either).’ Poor old Ernest: wrong twice. Kermode’s ...”

“... nine seconds and one frame. As Penn’s film opens, an old man, wonderfully characterised by Ernest Borgnine, is seen getting up in the morning, complaining about the darkness of the apartment he apparently shares with his wife (whom we do not see) and then, while he shaves and gets dressed, chatting more generally about the past and about the business ...”