I remember hearing once that Ernest Hemmingway won a contest for writing the best story in six words. Alas, I have forgotten his winning entry, despite its brevity. Could someone please post this for me? Thank you.
For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.
Yes! That’s it. Thank you.
I don’t have any idea if this is a true story or not.
Can anyone give a cite that truly certifies that it is true?
From what I’ve heard, it was a challenge or a bar bet; to see if he could write a story in six words. I don’t think it was an actual “contest.”
Fer cryin’ out loud! That link from ABC news is from Sept 3, 2001.
The same info in Google at least takes it back to a column in The Maui Time, Feb 15, 2000. And who knows how much farther.
Can anyone give me a cite/site that will conclusively prove to me that Hemmingway said/did this, and that it is not just apocraphal, as I believe?
Sam–I think you’re on your own here. This is the kind of tidbit that appears only in those big fat biographies, so I think you’ll have to go down to the library and look it up.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be apocryphal–just because it’s not “officially” on the Web in a Hemingway website bio doesn’t make it an UL.
Uh oh. I hope that story wasn’t copyrighted. We have rules about that sort of thing, you know.
I’ve got one of those big fat biographies here, but I haven’t read it yet. Does anyone have an approximate date or an idea of something I could check the index for to verify this?
O. Henry did once a one light story that read
“For Sale: One slightly used baby buggy.”
It’s pretty famous, and for this reason I think the Hemmingway anecdote is bogus.