Review: The Heming Way

It’s been a busy time here in the Beatdom offices, what with the launch of Beatdom Books and the preparation that is going into our next issue. So when Marty Beckerman wrote me and asked for a review of his new book, I said, “This better fucking be worth it.”

Of course, a part of me knew it would. Beckerman is a class act. He has written for numerous publications and has a couple of well respected books behind him. Hunter S. Thompson once called him a “morbid little bastard.”

His new book is called The Heming Way: How to Unleash the Booze-Inhaling, Animal-Slaughtering, War-Glorifying, Hairy-Chested, Retro-Sexual Legend Within… Just Like Papa. It is a comical biography of a man known for his machismo, written for a society that has no concept of manliness.

As you may have guessed, the book is no serious biography. It is a satirical guide to living like Hemingway in a world that quite frankly has no more room for such men, and few men with the interest to pursue such a life.

The book is a great read. It takes you through Hemingway’s life and passes comments about how manly his activities were, and how doing anything other than living “the Heming Way” is just plain girly. The book covers the expected topics of drinking (that’s hard liquor, not sissy cocktails), hunting (“A meal without meat is like sex without an orgasm.”) and what it means to be a man (being so tough that the only thing to kill you is yourself).

Beckerman carries the reader through with wit and intelligence, taking a shot at everything in his path. The book is available online and as a paperback, and comes highly recommended by the good people at Beatdom.