<P> In 1954, while in Africa, Hemingway was almost fatally injured in two successive plane crashes . He chartered a sightseeing flight over the Belgian Congo as a Christmas present to Mary . On their way to photograph Murchison Falls from the air, the plane struck an abandoned utility pole and "crash landed in heavy brush". Hemingway's injuries included a head wound, while Mary broke two ribs . The next day, attempting to reach medical care in Entebbe, they boarded a second plane that exploded at take - off, with Hemingway suffering burns and another concussion, this one serious enough to cause leaking of cerebral fluid . They eventually arrived in Entebbe to find reporters covering the story of Hemingway's death . He briefed the reporters and spent the next few weeks recuperating and reading his erroneous obituaries . Despite his injuries, Hemingway accompanied Patrick and his wife on a planned fishing expedition in February, but pain caused him to be irascible and difficult to get along with . When a bushfire broke out, he was again injured, sustaining second degree burns on his legs, front torso, lips, left hand and right forearm . Months later in Venice, Mary reported to friends the full extent of Hemingway's injuries: two cracked discs, a kidney and liver rupture, a dislocated shoulder and a broken skull . The accidents may have precipitated the physical deterioration that was to follow . After the plane crashes, Hemingway, who had been "a thinly controlled alcoholic throughout much of his life, drank more heavily than usual to combat the pain of his injuries ." </P> <P> In October 1954, Hemingway received the Nobel Prize in Literature . He modestly told the press that Carl Sandburg, Isak Dinesen and Bernard Berenson deserved the prize, but he gladly accepted the prize money . Mellow claims Hemingway "had coveted the Nobel Prize", but when he won it, months after his plane accidents and the ensuing worldwide press coverage, "there must have been a lingering suspicion in Hemingway's mind that his obituary notices had played a part in the academy's decision ." Because he was suffering pain from the African accidents, he decided against traveling to Stockholm . Instead he sent a speech to be read, defining the writer's life: </P> <P> Writing, at its best, is a lonely life . Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing . He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates . For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day . </P> <P> From the end of the year in 1955 to early 1956, Hemingway was bedridden . He was told to stop drinking to mitigate liver damage, advice he initially followed but then disregarded . In October 1956, he returned to Europe and met Basque writer Pio Baroja, who was seriously ill and died weeks later . During the trip, Hemingway became sick again and was treated for "high blood pressure, liver disease, and arteriosclerosis". </P>

Who wrote a book when he was 8 years old