Cockeyed Happy - by Darla Worden (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Streamlined and impacting, Darla Worden's Cockeyed Happy could be construed as a narrative of the author himself, a compelling account of Hemingway's summers in Wyoming--and I can think of no finer compliment."--Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

In March 1928, after the phenomenal success of The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway returned to the United States with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer--the stylish Vogue editor and scorned "other woman" who would give up everything to be with him and, in the end, lose it all.

The couple fled Paris in the wake of the huge gossip storm about the American author's affair and abandonment of his wife and son. Escaping to Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains to write while Pauline recovered from the birth of their first child, he finished A Farewell to Arms and fell in love with the land around him. Pauline soon joined him in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole.

In Cockeyed Happy Darla Worden tells the little-known story of Hemingway and Pauline during six summers from 1928 to 1939--from smitten newlywed to bored, restless husband and ultimately to philanderer as he falls in love with another woman once again.

Review Quotes

"Darla Worden has written a captivating book that reads like a novel yet is thoroughly researched with factual attention to detail. . . . Her descriptions of time and place resemble a travelogue that makes you want to experience the area for yourself, despite the changes since Hemingway's time. . . . Worden's book is a refreshing addition to Hemingway scholarship." --Ruth Hawkins, Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow

"Streamlined and impacting, Darla Worden's Cockeyed Happy could be construed as a narrative of the author himself, a compelling account of Hemingway's summers in Wyoming--and I can think of no finer compliment." --Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

"[An] immersive debut. . . For readers interested in a lesser-known aspect of Hemingway's life, this is worth a look." -- Publishers Weekly

"Enticing. . . 'Cockeyed Happy' is not only a look into a famous marriage, but it's also a lot of fun to read." -- 6park.news

"This is a stirring story that not only highlights an aspect of the famous novelist's private life, but acts as travelogue through parts of the West." -- COWGIRL Magazine Online

"Cockeyed Happy is an exuberant and forthright account of a far-too-underappreciated period of Hemingway's life. Darla Worden's affection for her subjects and their surroundings is irresistible." --Craig Boreth, author of The Hemingway Cookbook


"Darla Worden's Cockeyed Happy, about Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline, portrays not only a marriage but also a landscape rarely examined in his life and work. Worden briskly and engagingly conveys how the hunting grounds and fishing streams of rugged Wyoming shaped Hemingway's writing life, burnished friendships, and backdropped this not-forever-happy relationship." --Steve Paul, author of Hemingway at Eighteen


"What you didn't learn in the recent PBS three-part documentary about Ernest Hemingway and his years with his second wife, Pauline, you will learn in Darla Worden's Cockeyed Happy--and more! This is a story of romance, adventure, anger, and regret, told with intimate and compelling detail. It's a provocative read." --Lee Gutkind, author of My Last Eight Thousand Days

About the Author

Wyoming native Darla Worden lives in Denver, Colorado, where she is editor in chief of Mountain Living magazine. Worden also is founder and director of the Left Bank Writers Retreat in Paris and a journalist known for articles about art, architecture, travel, and the West. Visit her at darlaworden.com.