Scott Fitzgerald once wrote in a letter to Maxwell Perkins, 'This is to.

             tell you about a young man named Ernest Hemingway, who lives in Paris (an.

             American). I"d look him up right away. He"s the real thing." This is perhaps the most.

             prophetic statement Fitzgerald ever made in his lifetime, because Ernest Hemingway was.

             indeed 'the real thing". Only months after that letter was written, Hemingway"s first book.

             of short stories, In Our Time, was published, and so began the career of one of America"s.

             greatest literary heroes. The works that followed stunned audiences around the world.

             with the clear, concise language that was used, and the elaborate details that allowed.

             millions of people an in depth look into the life of an amazingly interesting man. .

             However, the perfection achieved in his literature was always out of reach to the man.

             himself. But Hemingway was able to use his real life tragedies and make them into.

             timeless masterpieces. That is why to this day it can be said that Ernest Hemingway is.

             the most influential American writer of all time (Turnbull, 167).

             Born in Oak Park, Illinois on July 21, 1899, Hemingway was raised to appreciate.

             the beauty of nature and the importance of spending time in the wilderness. This love of.

             the outdoors, including fishing and hunting, becomes quite apparent in his later pieces of.

             literature. At the age of eighteen, Hemingway was stationed in Italy, during World War I,.

             as a Red Cross ambulance driver. It was there that he first fell in love with Europe. He.

             was immediately attracted to the beauty of the countryside and the elegance of the.

             cultures there, and would later spend many years of his life on the continent. Herman.

             Melville called the sea his "Harvard and Yale", to Ernest Hemingway, the continent of.

             Europe was his (Baker, 17).

             Not long after his arrival, Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian shell as it.

             exploded nearby killing an Italian soldier, and blowing the legs off of another.