"I want to write something new, something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." F. Scott Fitzgerald (1923).
"The first step American fiction has taken since Henry James." T. S. Eliot (of The Great Gatsby)
"One of the most important works in American literature - and, to many, the great American novel." - Time (of The Great Gatsby)
"One of the most wonderful writers of the twentieth century." - Financial Times.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the greatest American novelists. This edition collects his four major novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby, and Tender is the Night.
This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald's first novel, was a cultural sensation, achieving critical and commercial success. It established Fitzgerald as the chronicler of the Jazz Age. It was to be Fitzgerald's bestselling book during his lifetime. "The glorious spirit of abounding youth glows throughout this fascinating tale ... this book is as nearly perfect as such a work could be." - The New York Times.
The Beautiful and Damned explores one of Fitzgerald's themes: the subtly destructive power of wealth. Anthony Patch succeeds in marrying the beautiful Gloria, but they idle their lives away waiting to inherit Anthony's grandfather's fortune. It comes only after a long legal battle; by then, they have lost interest in each other and in life. "The Beautiful and Damned is a timeless tale. What happens to ... Anthony and Gloria has happened to the same kind of people over and over again." -- Robbert Littell, The New Republic.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece is perhaps "The Great American Novel," and its protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is an almost mythic figure in American culture. It is, as Fitzgerald hoped, something new, something extraordinary. The novel is set on Long Island, during the enthusiasm, abandon, and free-flowing illegal liquor of "the Jazz Age," a term coined by Fitzgerald, who was himself was the quintessential chronicler of The Roaring Twenties.
The handsome millionaire Jay Gatsby seems to have everything, but where did his wealth come from, and what is he still in search of? Gatsby's life mirrors Fitzgerald's: they both fell in love, then struggled to establish themselves financially to prove themselves worthy. Fitzgerald wrote, "Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy." Gatsby was a tragic hero, much like his creator. This incandescent and magical novel is near the top of almost every list of "best novels."
Fitzgerald considered Tender is the Night his best novel. It explores similar themes as his other novels, is similarly autobiographical, but is set in the south of France. "[It] has a richness of meaning and emotion ... There is nothing false or borrowed in the book: everything is observed at first hand." Malcolm Cowley, The New Republic.
This collection, formatted in an easy-to-read 11 point font, is an ideal way to appreciate the creative genius of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and short-story writer. He is best known for these novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age. Writer Richard Ford calls Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner "The Three Kings who set the measure for every writer since."
