July 2005    

Breaking Point: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Murder of Jose Robles Author: Stephen Koch Publisher: Counterpoint $24.95 Cloth (308 P.) ISBN: 1582432805 B&T         YBP Reviewed by Jean Longfellow, Customer Service Bibliographer If you have liked the John Le Carré stories of Cold War double-dealing and betrayal, here is your chance for a similar, novelistic-style telling of the history of Soviet intrigue in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. Author Stephen Koch's careful research of personal accounts allows us to see the power plays of the war mirrored in the relationships of American literary celebrities of the time, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos. The betrayal of both truth and human bonds to advance political and artistic causes is the theme that Stephen Koch skillfully uses to weave together the politics surrounding the support of the Spanish Republic in the United States and the personal lives of the two writers and other smaller players. Having a liking for celebrity gossip, a la People magazine, will also increase your enjoyment of this book! Did Hemmingway really shoot a machine gun at sharks who ate a fish he had struggled to land? Did he really drink that much? Did Hemingway leave his wife for another woman in order to reignite his creativity? Did the other woman seek him out primarily for his fame, using him to jump-start her journalism career? And then there are the shadowy, Soviet-sponsored "handlers" who do their best to use the literary celebrities to manipulate public perceptions of the Spanish Republic. The fund-raising vehicle, "The Spanish Earth," a movie, is the common project for Hemingway and Dos Passos during the time frame of the book. The book documents the efforts of those "handlers" who worked to sideline John Dos Passos after he doggedly pursues the truth about a Spanish friend, José Robles: perhaps killed by Soviet supporters of the Republic prior to, or perhaps in order to hasten, the demise of the Spanish Republic. Hemingway's habit of betrayal is on almost every page- in marriage and in his friendship with Dos Passos - and Hemingway comes to dominate the story through his dysfunction. Dos Passos' plodding normality is no match for the machinations of others. I was very relieved when Dos Passos got out of Spain alive. The author is able to find the motives and telling details we expect in a novel in the personal narratives of big and small players in this turbulent history of Spain, and tells an exciting story. Published by YBP Library Services 999 Maple St., Contoocook, NH 03229 USA v: 800.258.3774   f: 603.746.5628 w: www.ybp.com   e: academia@ybp.com All rights reserved.