The Lost Suitcase: Reflections on the Literary Life

By Nicholas Delbanco

Book Overview

Taking as its main conceit a famous anecdote about Hemingway's early work and how it came to be lost - stolen on a train trip - this text imagines this event and its main characters in inventive ways that make the narrative itself a comment on creativity, fiction and a writer's self-awareness.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231115423
• ISBN13: 9780231115421
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 227 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A thoroughly enjoyable reflection on the literary life

Once again Nicholas Delbanco serves up a masterful reflection on the literary life. His well-crafted insights from decades of shaping careful observations in written forms are to be savored. A must read for all readers, including both beginning and veteran writers, it is an enjoyable addition to the libraries of those who love books and those who love those who provide the content of books. His explorations of the anecdote based on Hemingway's life also serves as a metaphorical statement of the existential dilemma faced by all creative people: when will the Muse not bring the much-needed and promised luggage so the task(s) can be done.