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  • True at First Light

  • A Fictional Memoir
  • By: Ernest Hemingway
  • Narrated by: Brian Dennehy
  • Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (22 ratings)
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True at First Light cover art

True at First Light

By: Ernest Hemingway
Narrated by: Brian Dennehy
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Summary

Both revealing self-portrait and dramatic fictional chronicle of his final African safari, Ernest Hemingway's last unpublished work was written when he returned from Kenya in 1953. Edited by his son Patrick, who accompanied his father on the safari, True at First Light offers rare insights into the legendary American writer.

A blend of autobiography and fiction, the book opens on the day his close friend, Pop, a celebrated hunter, leaves Ernest in charge of the safari camp and news arrives of a potential attack from a hostile tribe. Drama continues to build as his wife, Mary, pursues the great black-maned lion that has become her obsession. Spicing his depictions of human longings with sharp humor, Hemingway captures the excitement of big-game hunting and the unparalleled beauty of the scenery: the green plains covered with gray mist, zebra and gazelle traversing the horizon, cool dark nights broken by the sounds of the hyena's cry.
Who's your papa? Listen to more from Ernest Hemingway.
©1999 All Rights Reserved (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Biographical Fiction Literary Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Twentieth-century American literature could not end on a brighter note than the publication of this book." ( Library Journal)
"Amusing, moving, and of treasurable importance to an understanding of this massive, however flawed, genius of our literature." ( Kirkus Reviews) "A major literary event. In addition to the book's intrinsic pleasures, it provides a new window into the tantalizing, unsettling, oceanic world of his experimental, unfinished late work." ( Newsweek)

What listeners say about True at First Light

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Mercadier

Hemingway, I Presume?

Hemingway is one of the greatest authors of all time and the narration of this book is excellent. It is an interesting account of Hemingway's life in Africa with his wife, Mary. If you have already read or heard Garden of Eden, which is also available on audible, you should definitely try this.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for DUBAKK

great book - narrator?

Eminently satisfying to listen to this well written book by Hemingway. The only difficulty I have is it the narration, as I really enjoyed Josh Lucas in his other books, as I believe he was a more suitable narrator, that reflected having ways character and that gravelly voice I imagine he would have. Otherwise a very good "read".

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