The Torrents of Spring

First published in 1926, The Torrents of Spring is a hilarious parody of the Chicago school of literature. Poking fun at that “great race” of writers, it depicts a vogue that Hemingway himself refused to follow. In style and substance, The Torrents of Spring is a burlesque of Sherwood Anderson’s Dark Laughter, but in the course of the narrative, other literary tendencies associated with American and British writers akin to Anderson — such as D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, and John Dos Passos — come in for satirical comment. A highly entertaining story, The Torrents of Spring offers a rare glimpse into Hemingway’s early career as a storyteller and stylist.