John Steinbeck in 1939 Born

The Sun Also Rises epitomized the post-war expatriate generation,^[55] received good reviews and is "recognized as Hemingway's greatest work".^[56] Hemingway himself later wrote to his editor Max Perkins that the "point of the book" was not so much about a generation being lost, but that "the earth abideth forever"; he believed the characters in The Sun Also Rises may have been "battered" but were not lost.^[57]

Hemingway's marriage to Hadley deteriorated as he was working on The Sun Also Rises.^[54] In early 1926, Hadley became aware of his affair with Pfeiffer, who came to Pamplona with them that July.^[58][59] On their return to Paris, Hadley asked for a separation; in November she formally requested a divorce. They split their possessions while Hadley accepted Hemingway's offer of the proceeds from The Sun Also Rises.^[60] The couple were divorced in January 1927, and Hemingway married Pfeiffer in May.^[61]

Ernest and Pauline Hemingway in Paris, 1927

Pfeiffer, who was from a wealthy Catholic Arkansas family, had moved to Paris to work for Vogue magazine. Before their marriage, Hemingway converted to Catholicism.^[62] They honeymooned in Le Grau-du-Roi, where he contracted anthrax, and he planned his next collection of short stories,^[63] Men Without Women, which was published in October 1927,^[64] and included his boxing story "Fifty Grand". Cosmopolitan magazine editor-in-chief Ray Long praised "Fifty Grand", calling it, "one of the best short stories that ever came to my hands ... the best prize-fight story I ever read ... a remarkable piece of realism."^[65]

By the end of the year Pauline, who was pregnant, wanted to move back to America. John Dos Passos recommended Key West, and they left Paris in March 1928. Hemingway suffered a severe injury in their Paris bathroom when he pulled a skylight down on his head thinking he was pulling on a toilet chain. This left him with a prominent forehead scar, which he carried for the rest of his life. When Hemingway was asked about the scar, he was reluctant to answer.^[66] After his departure from Paris, Hemingway "never again lived in a big city".^[67]