Armed with just a small amount of (his wife Hadley's) money and a huge reservoir of charisma and confidence, Ernest Hemingway arrived in Paris determined to become the breakthrough star of a modern generation of writers. Those who championed him, like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, saw in his journalism-honed stories a glimmer of stylistic genius, and they aided his rise with their clout and money. And those without money and clout boosted Hemingway with their adoration and connections. And he cunningly took advantage of them all.
"Everybody Behaves Badly" chronicles the people and places behind Ernest Hemingway's debut novel "The Sun Also Rises". After attending the bullfights in Pamplona, Spain in 1925 with an entourage of socialites and fellow writers who were wont to drink, talk, and argue to excess, Hemingway realized the fodder for his debut novel was all there for the taking regardless of the dramatic fallout that would come from capturing his companions' lives in vivid and unflattering detail.Lesley M.M. Blume's book is so thoroughly researched that it reads more like a memoir than a biography. It makes for a highly engaging companion piece to Hemingway's memoir of his Paris years, 'A Moveable Feast."