To Have and Have Not

Hemingway's To Have and Have Not is a commentary on the time of The Great Depression told from multiple viewpoints.

He wrote it sporadically between 1935 and 1937. Then revised it as he traveled back and forth from Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The novel portrays Key West and Cuba in the 1930s and provides a social commentary on that time and place. Hemingway biographer Jeffrey Meyers described the novel as heavily influenced by the Marxist ideology. Hemingway was exposed to Marxism during his support of the Republican faction in the Spanish Civil War. The work got a mixed critical reception.[

The novel had its origins in two short stories published earlier in periodicals by Hemingway. These make up the opening chapters. A novella, written later, also makes up about two-thirds of the book. The narrative is told from multiple viewpoints, at different times, by different characters. The characters' names are frequently supplied under the chapter headings to indicate who is narrating that chapter.

The movie of the screenplay based on this book (written by Wm Faulkner) was Lauren Bacall's first on-screen appearance.