This episode of Zero to Well Read is sponsored by thriftbooks.com.

It's The Old Man in the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

And as you might expect with something that's well known as this, there's a ton of additions.

And let me just say, I didn't really think about how many iterations of man, boat, giant fish, ocean you could see and still have a lot of them look

really cheesy. It's really a remarkable achievement of human non-creativity to see what's all

available there. You can go throughbooks.com and scroll through. You're going to see a lot of cheesy

ones, but you're going to see some ones that aren't cheesy. The Spanish language ones are

especially cool. My pick is a February 1999 U.K. edition that is a really cool modernist edition

drawing illustration. But, you know, go pick out the one you want there. It would make a great

gift for Father's Day, Mother's Day, someone who wants a beachside

read, an accessible, easy to get into classic, which we're going to talk about right now.

Thanks to ThriftBooks.com for sponsoring this episode of Zero to Well Red.

Welcome to Zero to Well Read, a podcast about everything you need to know about the books

you wish you read. I'm Jeff O'Neill. And I'm Rebecca Schinsky. Jeff, this week, you're

going to want to pour yourself something strong and rum-based, which I know is in your wheelhouse.

Today, we are heading out with Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I am so thrilled to be able to talk about Hemingway and the Old Man in the Sea and the whole

Hemingway industrial complex, which was something we talk about today, the inherited image

of Hemingway that so many people have.

I don't know how many authors could stand, could bear the ongoing Hemingway lookalike contest

that they have every year in Key West.

Like, there's just not that many where he could do something like this.

Like maybe Mark Twain and I'm out.

...