The Torrents of Spring

The Torrents of Spring, A Romantic Novel in Honor of the Passing of a Great Race is a novella written by Ernest Hemingway and first published in 1926. The intention of the work is to parody the world of writers.

The novel is set in northern Michigan and tells the story of two men who are looking for the perfect woman but disagree on this ideal and what makes a woman perfect. These men are World War I veteran Yogi Johnson and writer Scripps O'Neill. They both work in a pump factory.

O'Neill is single because one day, when he comes home, he finds that his wife and young daughter have abandoned him. Distressed by the feeling of loneliness, he seeks the company of several waitresses. One of them tries to impress him by reading many books, while another tries to captivate him with a collection of literary anecdotes possibly invented by her.

Yogi Johnson, on the other hand, is anguished by the fact that he does not want any woman at all, until finally an indigenous woman appears in his life who will calm that anguish and awaken new feelings

Yogi Johnson stood looking out of the window of a big pump-factory in Michigan. Spring would soon be here. Could it be that what this writing fellow Hutchinson had said, "If winter comes can spring be far behind?" would be true again this year? Yogi Johnson wondered.