The figure of Ernest Hemingway invariably becomes the subject of controversy, and already during the life of the American writer, it was surrounded by myths and legends (of which he himself was often the author). However, this book is the first biography of Hemingway written by a woman and because of this is completely new. Unlike other male biographers, Mary Dearborn was interested in other aspects of the Pope's life, which, from her point of view, left a deep imprint on his work - charisma (inherited from his mother), relationships with women and men, and even such delicate issues as as the writer’s desire to experiment with gender roles and his obsession with androgyny. Mary Dearborn does not seek to once again offer the reader a glossy myth - or destroy it like other biographers. She looks at the Hemingway myth with a sober and femininely curious gaze and, relying on unique written sources (including recently opened archives), scrupulously separates truth from fiction, primarily in order to understand the tragedy of Hemingway, since the death of the writer became enormous a loss for American - and world - culture. Literally following on the heels of Hemingway, carefully analyzing the evidence - the prose writer’s personal correspondence with relatives and friends, the memoirs of contemporaries, official documents and works of art - Mary Dearborn reveals to the reader step by step, in what conditions and life circumstances, Hemingway’s literary talent matured, how he reached the apogee of fame, how he came to moral decay and how mental illness overtook him, which pushed the writer to the fatal step.