Walking the Streets with Hemingway

Last weekend I walked to the Barnes and Noble down the street in search of two books that I heard were worth the read. Fortunately, one of the books was sold out and one of them was a bit more than I wanted to pay. I say “fortunately” because if I had purchased one of the other books, I wouldn’t have come across The Paris Wife, a somewhat fictional, yet also very true, story by Paula McLain based on the life of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley. I haven’t read too much of Ernest Hemingway, but what I have read, I’ve enjoyed (I know…how can one really enjoy Hemingway?), so I thought this book would be a pleasant little read.

As I was delving into the novel, I suddenly got extremely excited because a good portion of it takes place in Chicago, where Hemingway and his wife (#1 of 4, I believe) lived for a time. Not only does it take place in Chicago, but it takes place in the Gold Coast neighborhood, where I live, and mentions multiple streets that I myself stroll down (or up) occasionally. One line in particular about their first apartment got me extreeeemly excited: “Our first apartment was a cramped and dingy two-floor walk-up on North Dearborn Street, a dodgy neighborhood on Chicago’s North side.” My instant reaction went something like this: “I LIVE A BLOCK FROM HEMINGWAY’S HOUSE!!” Right away I started researching the apartment to see how close it really was. Findings: it’s close, very close. I also found out from an article written in the Chicago Reader in 1995, that the son of the man who previously owned the building has turned the first floor of the apartment into a sort of exhibit, commemorating Hemingway’s work and life (as well as his shock treatments, apparently).

Since the article was written over 15 years ago, I can’t be sure if it is still open to the public like it was in 1995, but I will find out soon enough. I read one article from a blogger who said she visited to take some pictures and the owner happened to be outside and let them in for a look. Maybe I will get that lucky? Maybe.

Because the apartment building I live in was clearly built long before creation, I thought it might be possible that this complex was around when Hemingway lived here. Sadly, though, it was built about 7 years too late. Hemingway and Hadley lived around the corner in 1921 and my apartment complex, which I won’t mention here for fear of that my many stalkers will find me, was built in 1928 and has awesome historic elevators and an antique mailbox shoot that they still use, minus the shoot part. 

It’s very possible that you all think I’m overreacting about this. I happen to think I am not because: 1. I came upon The Paris Wife by complete accident (or divine providence, if you want to look at it that way), 2. I happen to now live in Chicago, whereas two weeks ago I didn’t, and 3. I live a block away from the very apartment I am currently reading about  in my book that housed one of America’s most famous 20^th century writers. 

Yes yes yes, I realize Hemingway was just a man - a man who drank too much, loved women too much, and thought a lot of himself too much, but he was a great writer, nonetheless. It's crazy for me to think that he walked these very streets, now filled with sky rises, homeless people on every corner, and chain restaurants and coffee shops on every block. I wish I could see what Chicago was like back then, before all the neon lights and recognizable stores; back when there were no bars, but everyone drank anyways (prohibition reference); back when women wore elegant hats over their bobbed hair and had names like "Dolly" and "Thelma." (what awful names!). While I would never want to live back then, it's fun to imagine what it was like and even more fun to read about the people who lived here and left a little bit of a legacy for us to remember them by.