If I were asked to edit ...

A book of 11 Hemingway Stories

1. Calvino said Hemingway was at his worst when he was at his most lyrical. He was wrong. The Snows of Kilimanjaro

2. The patient stops breathing in the cave while the doctor and officer argue over him. Then comes the line of genius. "You see. We argue about nothing?' A Natural History of the Dead

3. A lot of people say that when in Ten Indians Nick wakes and has to think for a while before he remembers what has broken his heart - the little Indian girl - that it means the love and the heartbreak were things of boyhood, not true. Those people have never had the thing happen to them.

4. The stupidity of prohibition and the importance of craftsmanship and duty. The Wine of Wyoming

5. Some are born great, and some have greatness thrust upon them ... and some get neither, and no stage to perform, but are great nonetheless. The Capital of the World

6. Remember how much fun drinking was when you were a kid and you weren't meant to be doing it. And why are winds thrilling? The Three Day Blow.

7. A soldier afraid his soul will escape into the dark if he falls asleep. Now I Lay Me

8. Who else can bring a sad night-time cafe to life like this. Certainly Hemingway appreciates an honest, human fear of the dark. A Clean Well-lighted Place.

9. Why does simple food always seem like it must be delicious when Hemingway writes it? A leg of ham in his room that airman and soldiers cut slices off. The Night Before Battle

10. "I have the face of a Russian and it's getting me into trouble." Under the Ridge

11. I sometimes turn my radio way down, when I don't want to understand the talk, but want the comforting sound of a human voice. Hemingway understood fear of silence as well as fear of darkness. The Gambler the Nun and the Radio