Hays, Peter L. 1938-

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HAYS, Peter L. 1938-

PERSONAL: Born April 18, 1938, in Bremerhaven, Germany; son of Eric (a grocer) and Elsa (Nussbaum) Hays; married Myrna Mantel (a teacher), September 14, 1963; children: Melissa Anne, Eric Lee, Jeffrey Michael. Education: University of Rochester, A.B., 1959; New York University, M.A., 1961; Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1965.

ADDRESSES: Home—Davis, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID 83844. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Ohio State University, Columbus, instructor in English, 1965-66; University of California, Davis, assistant professor, 1966-72, associate professor, 1972-77, professor of English and comparative literature, 1977-2004, department chair, 1974-77; retired, 2004. Fulbright lecturer in Mainz, West Germany (now Germany), 1977-78. University of California, Berkeley, instructor; chair, department of German and Russian, 1997-98. Military service: U.S. Army, 1959-60; U.S. Army Reserve, 1960-66.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, Hemingway Society, Wharton Society, F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.

WRITINGS:

The Limping Hero, New York University Press (New York, NY), 1971, reprinted, Senivenety Press (Houston, TX), 2000.

A Concordance to Hemingway's "In Our Time," G. K. Hall (Boston, MA), 1990.

Ernest Hemingway, Continuum (New York, NY), 1990.

(Editor and contributor) Teaching Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," University of Idaho Press (Moscow, ID), 2003.

Contributor of numerous articles to literature journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Peter L. Hays's book Ernest Hemingway was described by several reviewers as a concise, insightful introduction to the life and work of the man many people consider one of the greatest American authors. Hemingway's life was full and complicated, and his writing moved through several distinct stages. Hays divided his study of the author into seven sections. One focused on biographical facts; another presented a description of Hemingway's style and its influence on the writing that followed it; and there were also notes on his greatest successes, a chronology of his publishing history, and an extensive bibliography. His remarks covered classics such as To Have and Have Not and Green Hills of Africa; later efforts including Men at War, Over the River and into the Trees, and The Old Man and the Sea; and works published posthumously, such as The Garden of Eden, The Dangerous Summer, and A Moveable Feast.

Roland Wulbert, a reviewer for Booklist, noted that the book broke no new critical ground and commented that the historical portion of the book was "sketchy," but he concluded that "all in all," it was "a concise and serviceable introduction to Hemingway's crowded life and oeuvre." Choice contributor F. L. Ryan also noted that "there is not much that is new for the Hemingway scholar or the veteran reader," but he approved of Hays's commentary as "refreshingly brief but provocative." Ryan concluded: "Strongly recommended for anyone, particularly the undergraduate or community college student who needs a handbook that is both informative and lively."

Hays once told CA: "Although faculty may be paid only for their teaching and promoted . . . largely for their publications, publication, for me, is not separate from teaching, but rather, extends the podium offered in the classroom and allows professors further scope 'to profess' their views, to educate more widely."