The Dangerous Summer
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''The Dangerous Summer'' is a nonfiction book by
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
published posthumously in 1985 and written in 1959 and 1960. The book describes the rivalry between
bullfighters A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...
Luis Miguel Dominguín and his brother-in-law,
Antonio Ordóñez Antonio Ordóñez Araujo (16 February 1932 – 19 December 1998) was a Spanish bullfighter. Early life Antonio Jiménez Ordóñez Araujo was born in Ronda, Spain, on 16 February 1932. His father was Cayetano Ordóñez, called ''Niño de la Pal ...
, during the "dangerous summer" of 1959. It has been cited as Hemingway's last book.


Background

''The Dangerous Summer'' is an edited version of a 75,000-word manuscript Hemingway wrote between October 1959 and May 1960 as an assignment from ''
LIFE Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
''. Hemingway summoned his close friend
Will Lang Jr. William John Lang Jr. (October 7, 1914 – January 21, 1968) was an American journalist and a bureau head for ''Life'' magazine. Early career Lang was born on the south side of Chicago. While attending the University of Chicago in 1936, he wro ...
to come to Spain to deliver the story to ''LIFE Magazine''. The book was edited from the original manuscript by his American publisher
Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...
. A 30,000-word extract from the script was published in three consecutive installments in ''LIFE'' during September 1960. Popular author
James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...
(''Tales of the South Pacific'', ''Hawaii'', ''Centennial'', ''The Source'', ''Poland'') wrote the 33-page introduction which includes Michener's personal knowledge of bullfights and famous matadors, a comprehensive glossary of terms related to each stage of a bullfight, and unvarnished personal anecdotes of Hemingway.


Account of the season

The book charts the rise of Antonio Ordóñez (the son of
Cayetano Ordóñez Cayetano Ordóñez y Aguilera (January 24, 1904, Ronda, Spain - October 30, 1961, Madrid, Spain) is the patriarch of the Ordóñez family of bullfighters. His parents owned a shoeshop called ''La Palma'', which gave him his nickname (Niño de ...
, the bullfighter whose technique and ring exploits Hemingway fictionalized in his novel, ''
The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...
'') during a season of bullfights during 1959. During a fight on May 13, 1959, in
Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...
, Ordóñez is badly gored but remains in the ring and kills the bull, a performance rewarded by trophies of both the bull's ears, its tail, and a hoof. By contrast, Luis Miguel Dominguín is already famous as a bullfighter and returns to the ring after several years of retirement. Less naturally gifted than Ordóñez, his pride and self-confidence draw him into an intense rivalry with the newcomer, and the two meet in the ring several times during the season. Starting the season supremely confident, Dominguín is slowly humbled by this competition. While Ordóñez displays breathtaking skill and artistry in his fights, performing highly dangerous, classical passés, Dominguín often resorts to what Hemingway describes as "tricks", moves that look impressive to the crowd but that are actually much safer. Nevertheless, Dominguín is gored badly at a fight in
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, and Ordóñez is gored shortly afterwards. Less than a month later, the two bullfighters meet in the ring again for what Hemingway described as "one of the greatest bullfights I have ever seen", "an almost perfect bullfight unmarred by any tricks."Hemingway (1985), p. 109 From the six bulls which they fight, the pair win ten ears, four tails and two hooves as trophies, an extraordinary feat. Their final meeting takes place in
Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...
, with Dominguín receiving a near-fatal goring and Ordóñez demonstrating absolute mastery by performing the ''recibiendo'' kill, one of the oldest and most dangerous moves. Ordóñez's ''recibiendo'' requires three attempts, displaying the fighter's artistry and bravery that Hemingway likens to that of legendary bullfighter
Pedro Romero Pedro Romero Martínez (19 November 1754 – 10 February 1839) was a legendary bullfighter from the Romero family in Ronda, Spain. His grandfather Francisco is credited with advancing the art of using the muleta; his father and two brothers we ...
.Hemingway (1985), pp. 131–132


Footnotes


References

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External links


Review in ''The New York Times''
by William Kennedy {{DEFAULTSORT:Dangerous Summer, The 1960 non-fiction books Books by Ernest Hemingway Books published posthumously Bullfighting books Charles Scribner's Sons books Cultural depictions of bullfighters Cultural depictions of Spanish men