Nick Adams is the protagonist of two dozens of Ernest Hemingway's short stories written in the 1920s and 30s. Most of the stories were collected in a 1972 book titled The Nick Adams Stories. They are stories of initiation and adolescence. Taken as a whole, as in The Nick Adams Stories, they chronicle a young man’s coming of age in a series of linked episodes. The character – Nick Adams – is partly inspired by Hemingway’s experiences, from his summers in Northern Michigan to his service in the Red Cross ambulance corps in World War I. The story-arc and themes may have been influenced by Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha. The stories are grouped according to major themes in Nick’s life.