A Pursuit Race by Hemingway: A Story of Despair & Addiction

Gates of Imagination

Dive into the powerful and often overlooked short story, "A Pursuit Race" by Ernest Hemingway. This audiobook explores the poignant themes of addiction, despair, and the "Lost Generation" through the story of William Campbell, an advance man for a burlesque show who has been "caught" by his demons in a cold Kansas City hotel room.  Published in Hemingway's 1927 collection Men Without Women, "A Pursuit Race" is a masterful example of his sparse, understated prose. The story uses the metaphor of a bicycle pursuit race to illustrate a man's frantic and ultimately failed attempt to outrun his self-destructive habits. What begins as a seemingly humorous situation evolves into a tragic and profound portrait of a man giving up on life.  In this full-length audiobook reading, we'll experience Hemingway's sharp dialogue and keen insight into the human condition. It's a must-listen for fans of classic literature, Hemingway's work, and anyone interested in the psychological depths of his characters. Discover why this story, though less famous than "Hills Like White Elephants" or "The Killers," is considered a hidden gem of American literature.  #Hemingway #ShortStory #BookTok #ClassicLit #LifeLessons

Transcript

00:00Gates of Imagination presents A Pursuit Race by Ernest Hemingway, read by Jacob Rivers.

00:09William Campbell had been in a pursuit race with a burlesque show ever since Pittsburgh.

00:14In a pursuit race, in bicycle racing, riders start at equal intervals to ride after one another.

00:21They ride very fast because the race is usually limited to a short distance,

00:25and if they slow their riding, another rider who maintains his pace will make up the space that separated them equally at the start.

00:32As soon as a rider is caught and passed, he's out of the race and must get down from his bicycle and leave the track.

00:39If none of the riders are caught, the winner of the race is the one who has gained the most distance.

00:44In most pursuit races, if there are only two riders, one of the riders is caught inside of six miles.

00:51The burlesque show caught William Campbell at Kansas City.

00:55William Campbell had hoped to hold a slight lead over the burlesque show until they reached the Pacific Coast.

01:01As long as he preceded the burlesque show as advance man, he was being paid.

01:06When the burlesque show caught up with him, he was in bed.

01:10He was in bed when the manager of the burlesque troupe came into his room,

01:14and after the manager had gone out, he decided that he might as well stay in bed.

01:19It was very cold in Kansas City, and he was in no hurry to go out.

01:23He did not like Kansas City.

01:26He reached under the bed for a bottle and drank.

01:29It made his stomach feel better.

01:32Mr. Turner, the manager of the burlesque show, had refused a drink.

01:36William Campbell's interview with Mr. Turner had been a little strange.

01:40Mr. Turner had knocked on the door.

01:42Campbell had said,

01:43When Mr. Turner came into the room, he saw clothing on a chair, an open suitcase,

01:50the bottle on a chair beside the bed, and someone lying in the bed completely covered by the bedclothes.

01:55Mr. Campbell, Mr. Turner said.

01:59You can't fire me, William Campbell said from underneath the covers.

02:04It was warm and white and close under the covers.

02:08You can't fire me because I've got down off my bicycle.

02:11You're drunk, Mr. Turner said.

02:14Oh, yes, William Campbell said, speaking directly against the sheet and feeling the texture with his lips.

02:22You're a fool, Mr. Turner said.

02:25He turned off the electric light.

02:27The electric light had been burning all night.

02:29It was now ten o'clock in the morning.

02:32You're a drunken fool.

02:34When did you get into this town?

02:36I got into this town last night, William Campbell said, speaking against the sheet.

02:41He found he liked to talk through a sheet.

02:42Did you ever talk through a sheet?

02:46Don't try to be funny.

02:47You aren't funny.

02:48I'm not being funny.

02:50I'm just talking through a sheet.

02:52You're talking through a sheet, all right.

02:55You can go now, Mr. Turner, Campbell said.

02:58I don't work for you anymore.

03:00You know that anyway.

03:03I know a lot, William Campbell said.

03:06He pulled down the sheet and looked at Mr. Turner.

03:09I know enough, so I don't mind looking at you at all.

03:12Do you want to hear what I know?

03:14No.

03:16Good, said William Campbell.

03:19Because really, I don't know anything at all.

03:22I was just talking.

03:23He pulled the sheet up over his face again.

03:26I love it under a sheet, he said.

03:29Mr. Turner stood beside the bed.

03:32He was a middle-aged man with a large stomach and a bald head, and he had many things to do.

03:38You ought to stop off here, Billy, and take a cure, he said.

03:42I'll fix it up if you want to do it.

03:45I don't want to take a cure, William Campbell said.

03:48I don't want to take a cure at all.

03:50I am perfectly happy all my life.

03:53I have been perfectly happy.

03:55How long have you been this way?

03:57What a question.

03:59William Campbell breathed in and out through the sheet.

04:02How long have you been stewed, Billy?

04:06Haven't I done my work?

04:08Sure.

04:09I just asked you how long you've been stewed, Billy.

04:13I don't know.

04:14But I've got my wolf back.

04:16He touched the sheet with his tongue.

04:18I've had him for a week.

04:20The hell you have.

04:22Oh, yes, my dear wolf.

04:25Every time I take a drink, he goes outside the room.

04:28He can't stand alcohol.

04:30The poor little fellow.

04:32He moved his tongue round and round on the sheet.

04:37He's a lovely wolf.

04:39He's just like he always was.

04:42William Campbell shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

04:46You got to take a cure, Billy, Mr. Turner said.

04:49You won't mind the keely.

04:51It isn't bad.

04:52The keely, William Campbell said.

04:55It isn't far from London.

04:57He shut his eyes and opened them, moving the eyelashes against the sheet.

05:02I just love sheets, he said.

05:06He looked at Mr. Turner.

05:08Listen, you think I'm drunk.

05:10You are drunk.

05:12No, I'm not.

05:13You're drunk and you've had DTs.

05:17No.

05:18William Campbell held the sheet around his head.

05:21Dear sheet, he said.

05:23He breathed against it gently.

05:26Pretty sheet.

05:28You love me, don't you, sheet?

05:30It's all in the price of the room.

05:32Just like in Japan.

05:34No, he said.

05:36Listen, Billy, dear sliding Billy.

05:38I have a surprise for you.

05:40I'm not drunk.

05:40I'm hopped to the eyes.

05:43No, said Mr. Turner.

05:47Take a look.

05:49William Campbell pulled up the right sleeve of his pajama jacket under the sheet,

05:53then shoved the right forearm out.

05:55Look at that.

05:57On the forearm, from just above the wrist to the elbow,

06:01were small blue circles around tiny dark blue punctures.

06:04The circles almost touched one another.

06:08That's the new development, William Campbell said.

06:11I drink a little now once in a while, just to drive the wolf out of the room.

06:16They got a cure for that, sliding Billy, Turner said.

06:21No, William Campbell said.

06:23They haven't got a cure for anything.

06:26You can't just quit like that, Billy, Turner said.

06:30He sat on the bed.

06:32Be careful of my sheet, William Campbell said.

06:36You can't just quit at your age and take to pumping yourself full of that stuff

06:40just because you got in a jam.

06:43There's a law against it, if that's what you mean.

06:46No, I mean you gotta fight it out.

06:49Billy Campbell caressed the sheet with his lips and his tongue.

06:52Dear sheet, he said.

06:55I can kiss this sheet and see right through it at the same time.

07:00Cut it out about the sheet.

07:02You can't just take to that stuff, Billy.

07:05William Campbell shut his eyes.

07:07He was beginning to feel a slight nausea.

07:10He knew that this nausea would increase steadily,

07:13without there ever being the relief of sickness,

07:16until something were done against it.

07:18It was at this point that he suggested that Mr. Turner have a drink.

07:23Mr. Turner declined.

07:25William Campbell took a drink from the bottle.

07:28It was a temporary measure.

07:30Mr. Turner watched him.

07:32Mr. Turner had been in this room much longer than he should have been.

07:36He had many things to do.

07:38Although living in daily association with people who use drugs,

07:41he had a horror of drugs, and he was very fond of William Campbell.

07:46He did not wish to leave him.

07:49He was very sorry for him, and he felt a cure might help.

07:53He knew there were good cures in Kansas City.

07:56But he had to go.

07:58He stood up.

07:59Listen, Billy, William Campbell said.

08:01I want to tell you something.

08:03You're called sliding Billy.

08:05That's because you can slide.

08:07I'm called just Billy.

08:09Billy, that's because I never could slide at all.

08:11I can't slide, Billy.

08:13I can't slide.

08:15It just catches.

08:16Every time I try it, it catches.

08:19He shut his eyes.

08:20I can't slide, Billy.

08:22It's awful when you can't slide.

08:25Yes, said sliding Billy Turner.

08:29Yes, what?

08:30William Campbell looked at him.

08:32You were saying?

08:34No, said William Campbell.

08:36I wasn't saying.

08:37It must have been a mistake.

08:39You were saying about sliding.

08:42No, it couldn't have been about sliding.

08:45But listen, Billy, and I'll tell you a secret.

08:49Stick to sheets, Billy.

08:51Keep away from women and horses and, and.

08:55He stopped.

08:57Eagles, Billy.

08:58If you love horses, you'll get horses.

09:01And if you love eagles, you'll get eagles.

09:04He stopped and put his head under the sheet.

09:08I got to go, said sliding Billy Turner.

09:12If you love women, you'll get a dose, William Campbell said.

09:16If you love horses?

09:18Yes, you said that.

09:20Said what?

09:21About horses and eagles.

09:24Oh, yes.

09:25And if you love sheets.

09:27He breathed on the sheet and stroked his nose against it.

09:30I don't know about sheets, he said.

09:33I just started to love this sheet.

09:35I have to go, Mr. Turner said.

09:38I got a lot to do.

09:41That's all right, William Campbell said.

09:44Everybody's got to go.

09:46I better go.

09:47All right, you go.

09:49Are you all right, Billy?

09:51I was never so happy in my life.

09:54And you're all right?

09:55I'm fine.

09:57You go along.

09:58I'll just lie here for a little while.

10:00Around noon, I'll get up.

10:03But when Mr. Turner came up to William Campbell's room at noon,

10:07William Campbell was sleeping.

10:09And as Mr. Turner was a man who knew what things in life were very valuable,

10:14he did not wake him.

10:15He said.

10:18Thank you so much for listening to this audiobook.

10:22If you enjoyed the story, feel free to like, subscribe,

10:25and explore the channel for more captivating tales.

10:28See you in the next recording.

10:30See you in the next recording.

10:33You

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