Hemingway's Boat is not a biography of Ernest Hemingway nor a literary analysis of his work nor a character portrait of the man. It's a bit of all these things, anchored by an account of his 38-foot fishing vessel Pilar. The heart of the book describes Hemingway's purchase of the boat and the early years during which he used it as a pressure-release valve for his volatile personality. During the years 1934 to 1937, Hemingway wrote The Green Hills of Africa, became a world-class marlin fisherman, and raged against the mixed critical response to his recent work.
Hendrickson is a master at vividly describing prosaic incidents such as the day Hemingway ordered Pilar. He imagines all the thoughts and feelings his characters are having at the time. The book includes full portaits of minor characters such as the boat builder, the young writer who served as his ship's steward, and the foreign service officer who married Hemingway's secretary. The last third of the book focuses primarily on Ernest's youngest son Gregory.
Hendrickson has at least three distinct goals, and is largely successful at all three:
- Reconstruct the mental life of Hemingway and his compatriots during a critical period
- Show that he could be supportive, loyal, and compassionate alongside his well-documented and undeniable egotism, boorishness, and malice
- Propose that his lifelong struggle with mental illness made his successes (as well as Gregory's) heroic
