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Friday, July 10, 2009

Books Comrade Hemingway

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 11:53 AM

909f/1247251794-9780300123906.jpg Slog tipper Bryan directs us to this weird news item. A new biography suggests that Ernest Hemingway wanted to be a spy for the KGB in 1941:

Its section on the author's secret life as a "dilettante spy" draws on his KGB file in saying he was recruited in 1941 before making a trip to China, given the cover name "Argo", and "repeatedly expressed his desire and willingness to help us" when he met Soviet agents in Havana and London in the 40s. However, he failed to "give us any political information" and was never "verified in practical work", so contacts with Argo had ceased by the end of the decade.

Turns out, he just wasn't that useful. I can't wait to see what the right-wing blogosphere does with this one: Goddamned writers selling American interests up the river. More information on the book is here. Many thanks to Bryan for sending the tip my way.

Comments (6) RSS

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Should this be true, I'm sure eventually we'll see release of buried docs from CIA (or whatever it was called at the time) showing an agency drinking buddy put Hemingway up to it as a lark. I mean, c'mon - the sainted Le Carre used this kind of thing as humorous counterpoint all the time.

Posted by gloomy gus on July 10, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Ah, man, for a moment I read "Ernest Hemingway" as "J. Edgar Hoover" and that would have been the greatest thing ever.

Posted by Andrew Cole on July 10, 2009 at 12:08 PM

@2: Indeed, sir.

Posted by Zach Annon on July 10, 2009 at 12:24 PM

"Turns out, he just wasn't that useful."

so... same as his literary career then?

Posted by Akbar Fazil on July 10, 2009 at 12:46 PM

If it's true that hyper-masculine Hemingway can so much as court the KGB undetected, it only lends credence to my just-now made-up theory that J. Edgar Hoover's goal was to simply squash out high profile homosexuals in America, and "subversive radicals" was simply a euphemism.

Until I really think about it, it all makes perfect sense now.

Posted by Dougsf on July 10, 2009 at 12:46 PM