Which version of A Moveable Feast?

[6charlong]

I have a fond memory of reading Ernest Hemmingway's A Movable Feast when it was published in 1964. That was after Hemmingway died. He hadn't published it yet when he died. When I went to buy it for my nook, I discovered there are two versions of the book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Moveable_Feast

Ernest Hemingway worked on the manuscript of A Moveable Feast during his later years, painstakingly rewriting several key passages. He had prepared a final draft before he died. After his death, his fourth wife Mary, in her capacity as Hemingway's literary executor, did editing in consultation with the publisher.

In 2009 a new edition, called the "Restored Edition," was published by Seán Hemingway, a grandson of Hemingway and his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer. He was an assistant curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He made numerous changes...

There is criticism of both versions. How does one decide which one to get?

[Prestidigitweeze]

The mere fact you've read the original version already, and that the newer revised edition includes previously unpublished chapters, suggests to me you should buy the revised version. If, however, your goal is to reproduce exactly your initial experience of reading the book, then I suppose you should get the original version instead.

I hadn't been paying attention until I saw the bit about a new chapter on Ezra Pound. Personally, I love Pound as a poet and critic but also find him infuriating as a man, so that chapter will be reason enough for me to buy the new version even though my old copy is here somewhere. Which is interesting, since I hadn't anticipated thinking about that book any more.

I'd say the scholarship on Moveable Feast is far from complete. Look for a future version that includes all available material.

BTW: I often use this line from A Moveable Feast:

Nameless Blowhard: "When I was in Greece. . . ."

Hemingway: "You say you used it or you went there?"