Une Generation Perdue Summary and Analysis

Hemingway stops regularly to visit Stein at her apartment. She expects him to entertain her with tales when he returns from traveling on his journalism assignments. Hemingway tries to steer the conversations toward the subject of books. As part of his technique not to think about his own writing between sessions, Hemingway reads books by the authors of his day, which he obtains from Sylvia Beach at her English-language bookshop called Shakespeare and Company.

Hemingway brings up the names of authors he has read to Stein, such as Aldous Huxley and D.H. Lawrence. Stein abruptly dismisses them both and recommends he read the author Marie Belloc Lowndes. She lends him one of her books, and Hemingway finds them to be excellent.

Reflecting back, Hemingway says that during the few years that he was good friends with...