Author Description

Hemingway is one of the 20th century's most important prose stylists, and this is the first concordance to any of his prose. By focusing on In Our Time, his major short story collection and first book published in America, it takes the best possible starting point. It lists all words used in the stories, counts the number of times they appear, and computes the proportion of new to repeated words per story. A separate index alphabetically lists key words per story and the contexts in which they appear, as well as the page numbers on which they are found in both the 1925 and 1930 editions. The result is irrefutable data on which researchers may build sound scholarship. Hay's critical introduction suggests numerous avenues for exploration: he points out patterns that confirm long-held opinions - such as the use of definite articles to imply familiarity with the reader. He also reopens questions about whether Big Two-hearted River is a war story, and whether End Of Something and Three Day Blow are post-war stories. Of special value is his list of the changes in the 1930 edition and the insights they invite on Scribners's role as copyeditor.