A Review of ‘The Moveable Feast’ by Ernest Hemingway

The Bookshop Guru

A master storyteller is how I would describe Hemingway. Those of you that have read his most popular and well known novels need no introduction into how the clarity and originality of his stories grip you from the beginning. I was intrigued when I found this book, because although it’s described as fiction, it is really an account of him as a poor and struggling unknown writer living in Paris in the 1920’s. His memories have a bouquet that lingers and captivates you into understanding much more about the man, almost as if you can smell and taste the wine as he recalls the café life. Hemingway describes Paris as a great treasure given to you, and regardless of how poor you are, you could still live and work well there. You could take Paris with you wherever you went and so ‘The Moveable Feast.’

Hemingway recalls his encounters with other writers such as Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce and many more. Interestingly, his early confidence is best described as ‘unsure’ without the authority of a novel to his name. His friend Fitzgerald talks about his latest book ‘The Great Gatsby’ and how good reviews hadn’t translated into meaningful sales. Hemingway then recalls how he spent a whole morning of work just to write a paragraph and he wasn’t sure how he could ever write anything as long as a novel. But he also recalls his disapproval of Fitzgerald’s practice of changing short stories to suit the twists required for magazine submission. Hemingway describes this practice as ‘whoring,’ but Fitzgerald says he has no choice as he needs the money to fund the writing of future books.

Throughout the meandering of life as a young writer Hemingway leads you into his world and shares with you all the beauty of living and loving life. There is a vibrancy of colour in the way the words make it onto the page of the story, which is how Hemingway recalls his early struggle to tell a story.

A great read!

Anthony fox

Are you listening,  what are you dreaming?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

Click Here

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P.S. Tomorrow Never Comes

Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.

Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

Never late, but sorry.

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

Enjoy Your Creative Writing

The Bookshop Guru

In my book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explore love, money, luck, and much more.

Click Here

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Currently, I am writing my third book, and this time it’s a novel. I am about halfway through writing and hope to finish in the next few months, and so far I have enjoyed the experience. I have enjoyed being the voice of the characters and telling the story, hopefully using the Iceberg Theory to describe events. I have found it useful to set targets, especially for me because I am a lazy turd and often get side-tracked writing material for the three blog sites I maintain.  

I like comedy, but it’s not always easy to write a creative story or article on a regular basis, but I do try. Take for example the short story – “Veni, Vidi, Vici: A Cautionary Tale at the C.I.A.” which I created to be treated as comedy, although some people perhaps would not see the funny side. Criticism in whatever shape it manifests itself is not easy to deal with, but who gives a shit, right!

By Anthony Fox

Author of “How to Pass a Degree with Confidence” and “It’s Never Too Late”

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P.S. Tomorrow Never Comes

Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.

Conducting a Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

Never late, but sorry.

 Read my book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

How to Write a Bestseller?

The Bookshop Guru

This should interest those of you who are budding writers or wannabe’s. I read this book called ‘How to write a blockbuster’ about a year ago now, in part preparation for my task of writing a book. The book is from the ‘teach yourself range’ by Helen Corner & Lee Weatherly, and contains all the semantics of crafting a story plus all the ins and outs of getting published. In fact, I contacted one of the agents mentioned in the book. I ended up re-reading much of the book several times while writing my first two books. I found the information very useful.

Although the first book I wrote was rejected it was not a novel, but a memoir about me. Looking back now, I can see why it was rejected. The book I had written ended up being perhaps parts of several books. I wanted to write about bipolar and ended up with several bits about different topics. But, no harm done, I now have the beginnings of some new books and some experience.  It was a learning curve. Luckily, I only sent the book to two agents, one of which was kind enough to reply.

The whole process of finding an agent or publisher seemed to involve a lengthy and frustrating time. Happily, my second book was accepted for publication and is now available. In this book I chose to write about my experience at university while studying for an MSc in artificial intelligence. The book is a study guide in how to pass a degree with confidence. I wanted to share my experience with other students because I was well aware of the stress and pressure of gaining a university degree.  Hopefully the book will be a bestseller.

My experience as a budding writer – the rejection, finding agents, and publishers is limited. But, I would like to think I can write a book in the same genre and quality as Malcolm Gladwell, Tim Harford, Dan Gardner and others. To this aim I have already started on what will be a likely 2-3 year project, maybe longer, without the resources such as research help. At the same time I am trying to write a novel. It appears multitasking is a habit of mine, a common trait and one I associate with bipolar. I have a habit of going off in several directions or trying to do too much at once. At least I am aware of it and can make allowances.

 Sunset © Anthony Fox

But writing a novel – crafting pure fiction is not as easy as it may sound. I am given some encouragement though, by what Ernest Hemingway said to his friend Scott Fitzgerald, about how it had taken him all morning to write just a paragraph, and he didn’t hold much hope of writing a novel. This of course is when Hemingway was an aspiring writer living in Paris in the 1920’s, before he published his first novel. Writing a novel is a challenge and one that I have set myself. Follow and I will endeavour to blog about my progress as the weeks and months pass. Yippee ki kay!

Are you listening,  what are you dreaming?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

Click Here

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P.S. Tomorrow Never Comes

Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.

Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

Never late, but sorry.

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

“…back to the 1980s…” Short Story Update

The Bookshop Guru

I finished and submitted my entry. What a task, as you remember from previous articles posted here, that writing a short story is no easy task. But one, that has been a challenge and a goal over the past months for me. Not for lack of trying I have explained how I have written several short stories and not been happy.

Anyway, the task is complete and only a few hours before the deadline for the competition, which ends today at 5.pm UK time.

The process of writing of writing a short story is arduous, to say the least. But, I am happy with the result. A readable story in 3000 words or less is the criteria. It has taken several stages from creation and idea to writing dialogue. Framing a story and reading how to write a short story have been all part of the mix.

Photo: Hartland © Anthony Fox

I reflected back to the 1980s for the era and the mood of the story. I created characters and set the scene and let events tell the story. I used an approach made famous by Hemingway called the ‘iceberg theory’ which characterizes many of his books.

Relieved, I can now get back to writing my next book. Writing a short story takes a lot of time, from research to writing dialogue, it’s no easy task. And then the editing, the same for writing a book you need to use the same professional approach applied to the task of writing a short story. I wanted to improve my writing skills and at the same time test and challenge myself. A job well done!

Currently reading:  

Time Riders by Alex Scarrow

Cadillac Fin Suitcase by Michael Walsh

The Escapades of Glamor Grans on Holiday by Micki Street

P.S. Sponsored by Madbrokes a comedian on antidepressants.

Why didn’t I think of that?

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John Newman - Love Me Again

Love and Listen

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

Click Here

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P.S Tomorrow Never Comes

Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.

Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

Never late, but sorry.

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

"Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want ..."

The Bookshop Guru

In a recent interview I provided this information about my progress as a writer. Don’t you wish you thought of it first! Here goes! Hope you like it.

Click Below and Listen

Everybody’s Free (To Wear) Sunscreen

A photograph I took in New York, USA.

First of all, when is the release date of your book and the title?

Within the next 2-3 months, I am not sure about the exact release date. The title is: How to Pass a Degree with Confidence  Now Available to Buy Click Here

Where did you attend college and study artificial intelligence?

I went to Plymouth University and gained an Honours degree in computing and gained a Master’s degree in software engineering studying artificial intelligence at Sunderland University.

We are all drawn to writing because we have a story to tell, is this why you became a writer?

Yes, I have many stories to tell. It all began as a boy growing up in America. Even then I wanted to be a writer, but most of my life I have been trying to figure out what I wanted, but it’s always been there. Interestingly, all this time I have kept the scraps of paper with the words I have written. I am often reminded by the lyrics of Baz Luhrmann Everybody’s Free (To Wear) Sunscreen “Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t” Well, that has been me in the past. Now, I am busy working on my next book.

What are your favourite genres to read?

I do not have any favourites because it’s the story that is important. It can be science fiction, crime, romance, and so on, but it always comes back to the story. Ernest Hemingway talked about the ‘iceberg theory,’ as a writer you can omit certain elements, but the story holds our attention. Each page we turn we want to know more as we identify with the characters leading us to the end of the story.

Do you have a favourite author and why?

I could list so many and miss out so many, because there are numerous good writers out there now and in the past. Paulo Coelho for example, his book ‘The Alchemist’ is a story about a shepherd boy on a quest, but it’s also about love and much more. Hidden within the story is a moral similar to ‘Jesus and his parables’ and what Hemingway used in many of his books the ‘iceberg theory.’

And now for something completely random, what is your favourite animal?

I have always loved animals especially dogs, ever since I can remember. Once on a trip as a boy to a zoo I remember seeing an ape in what appeared a small enclosure. I remember staring into the eyes of the ape and wondering what the ape was thinking, but me wishing all animals were free…

Anthony Fox

P.S. Sponsored by Madbrokes a comedian on antidepressants.

Why didn’t I think of that?

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In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

Click Here

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P.S Tomorrow Never Comes

Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.

Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

Never late, but sorry.

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

The Art of Writing a Short Story

The Bookshop Guru

I've tried many times and have given up just as much. I have read many articles on how to write short stories, and I have read many short stories trying to get a handle on what to do. Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t? I even read Hemingway’s “the art of the short story” which like he says, tell it how it is. “The woman was a bitch; well she gave everyone the pox” he says. If there is a formula, please let me know.

But the challenge could be profitable, so I have set myself a goal. To finish writing a short story by the 25^th of this month. I need an extra couple of weeks for editing, or I should say my friend does, who edited my first two books. It’s a worthwhile challenge, I think first prize is worth several thousand and I could do with the money. Whatever happens, it’s all good fun.

Like I said over last few months I have tried many times writing out new stories, but not been happy with the results. So I have begun with this one differently. I like to try new ideas if they fit, great! But, I still find the computer puts up a barrier, so I sketch the ideas with a few sentences in a note book without lines. I even find ruled notebooks a barrier; don’t ask me why, I just do. I prefer the blankness of clear white paper.

Gradually relaxing I get into my comfort zone and when it feels right… I begin. At first it seems like a miss-mash of narrative, but that’s good, nothing ordered, it might work this time. The characters will be born from the chaos I have created.

The goal…the rejection it’s all part of the process. A mix-up of words and paragraphs, an experiment, I guess.

My next task, in no particular order is to ask, who’s telling the story? And how shall I tell it. And what is the story? These ramblings are how I have tackled the art of the short story. Only my peers and I will know if I have realized my goal.

P.S. Sponsored by Madbrokes a comedian on antidepressants.

Why didn’t I think of that?

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In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

Click Here

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P.S Tomorrow Never Comes

Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.

Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

Never late, but sorry.

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing