In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway's first American collection of short stories, published in 1925 by Boni & Liveright. Its title is derived from "Give peace in our time, O Lord" from the English Book of Common Prayer. Hemingway first used the title for a collection of six nonfiction vignettes of 75 to 187 words, commissioned by Ezra Pound for The Little Review. He added 12 more vignettes for in our time (with lower-case title), published in 1924 in Paris, about matadors, the Battle of Mons, the Greco-Turkish War and the execution of six Greek cabinet ministers. The 1925 New York collection combined these and fourteen newly written short stories, including "Indian Camp" and "Big Two-Hearted River", two of his best-known Nick Adams stories. He added "On the Quai at Smyrna" for the 1930 edition. The collection resonates with themes of alienation, loss, grief and separation, and includes descriptions of war, bullfighting and current events. It is the earliest Hemingway work to employ his iceberg theory of writing, in which the underlying meaning is hinted at, rather than explicitly stated. The volume attracted attention from reviewers and is an important work in his canon.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Our_Time_(short_story_collection)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

41:

Cassius Chaerea and the disgruntled Praetorian Guards murdered Roman emperor Caligula, replacing him with his uncle Claudius. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula

1458:

The 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus was unanimously proclaimed King of Hungary after the Estates were persuaded to do so by his uncle Michael Szilágyi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus

1848:

James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill (reconstruction pictured) in Coloma, California, leading to the California Gold Rush. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush

1978:

The Soviet nuclear powered satellite Kosmos 954 burned up during reentry, scattering radioactive debris across Canada's Northwest Territories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954

2011:

A suicide bomber killed 37 people at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodedovo_International_Airport_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

kakistocracy: Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kakistocracy

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We contemplate eternity Beneath the vast indifference of heaven.   --Warren Zevon https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Warren_Zevon