The Great Gatsby

Amazon.com

In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

Book Description

MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independ ent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-09-29

I use this book as a college student for the course of "Critical Thinking Skill" . Easy to follow and to understand.

"Great" doesn't even begin to describe this one.......2007-09-29

This is a seriously awesome book. Quite simply, you must read it. I know you've heard it before: allow me to join in praising it.
The first thing I'd like to point out is Fitzgerald's brilliant use of symbolism. The cars, the colors, various characters' glasses... these aren't just trivial things, you know. Pay close attention to them.
Anyway, the next thing I'd like to discuss is the character of Gatsby himself. A very intriguing figure. In fact, he's a bit of an enigma to me in that I have no definite opinion on whether or not I admire him. My opinion on the other characters is clear-cut (I mostly dislike them, other than Nick - which I believe was Fitzgerald's intention, to portray the rich as shallow and irresponsible - another thing that comes off brilliantly). But Gatsby... I'm not sure on Gatsby. I have to salute him for sticking with his dream for so long, in spite of its hopelessness, but the ends of said dream would have resulted in disaster for all parties involved, and his motives would be questionable. Gatsby is charismatic, well-read, determined, and intelligent; he is also greedy, self-absorbed, and stuck in the past. In other words, very human. And that's the most intriguing part of his character: when the end comes, I am unsure whether or not I feel Gatsby deserved his fate. Something to ponder. I like books that make me think deeply, and this is one of them.
As for Fitzgerald's language, let us say he has total mastery over it. I knew he was a phenomenal writer from reading a collection of his short stories before I picked up Gatsby, but nothing could prepare me for what this book would present. Fitzgerald was a very, very talented writer, and there's a fine reason why he is widely considered one of the best. Books don't get much better.
As an attack on the fast, hard lifestyles of the wealthy (something Fitzgerald himself knew a lot about), and as a meditation on how time's passage can ruin lives, this is equally brilliant. Easily one of the best books I've ever read. Every character is fully fleshed out, even seemingly (but only seemingly!) trivial characters like Old Owl Eyes; the symbolism is perfect, the language is stunning, and the book is just the right length. I can think of no criticisms.

Fantastic.......2007-08-18

Most classics fall into one of two traps. The first: thick, tedious prose, tiny font, 800 pages of 18th, 19th century drama. The second: a theme so blatant it sits beating the reader on the head, neglecting the fact that stories still have things called a story. Most fall into one of those two situations--thick or preachy.

Not Gatsby. Oh no. Gatsby falls into neither classic trap. You can read it in a day and enjoy yourself doing it. Actually, you can read it in a few hours and enjoy yourself just as much as if you were rereading The Hobbit or Harry Potter. Then, once you've finished, you look back and see, to your wonderment, how powerful and deep The Great Gatsby really is.

And that is only part of Fitzgerald's success.

The entire work is highly precise. Every word has its reason for being there. None are wasted. The themes are embedded in precise locations so as not to jump out at the reader and consequently distract them from the story.

Speaking of the story, Fitzgerald does what many classical novelists fail to do--tell one. Fitzgerald told a story about this man, Gatsby, who invented himself. As a result, he told a story about following dreams, and ambition, and living life, and viewing life, and carelessness. But he told the story about Gatsby, and the people around him, first.

In that way, he avoided theme device, and plot devices, and made for an impeccable, enjoyable, thought-provoking read. Thus, five stars from me for the best classic I have ever read, The Great Gatsby.

I HATED IT!.......2007-08-01

AM I THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD WHO HATES THIS BOOK?!?!?! I found the characters insipid, vacant and superficial, and I know that's the point Fitzgerald was trying to make, but instead of being deeply moved and inspired by the depiction of our society as shallow and meaningless like THE REST OF THE WORLD, I found myself incredibly disgusted and repulsed. I know this is the Great American Novel. I know that I'm supposed to appreciate it for its sublime beauty and honest portrayal of the Diseased Elite. But I don't.

Better with each reading.......2007-07-30

Jay Gatsby lives in a large mansion on the water in Long Island, New York, circa 1925. He hosts enormous parties each weekend attended by hundreds of people whom are uninvited and do not even know him. But that does not bother him. He is the perfect host, always making sure that his guests have everything their heart's desire. Nick Carraway lives next door and works in the City selling bonds. He is originally from the midwest but has relocated East to seek his fortune. He is befriended by Gatsby and others in elite social circles including a college friend Tom Buchannan and his wife Daisy, who is also Nick's cousin. But the world appears smaller and smaller as Nick discovers that Gatsby is in love with Daisy and that they dated once, years before, prior to her wedding to Tom. Gatsby has never gotten over Daisy and spends his every minute in an effort to win her back and prove his love.

Fitzgerald's best known novel is filled with love, hate, intrigue, and friendship. He describes the frivolity of the time as contrasted with the sadness of human lonliness and insecurity. What seems to say so little given that it is a very short book, really says quite a bit in what it does not say. Romantic relationships that are described as happy clearly illustrate the dispair and sadness that is truly being suffered by those that are not truly in love with each other. Platonic relationships that seem losely connected actually describe tight friendships that are closer than others that portend to be strong.

With each reading of this novel more of what Fitzgerald meant to convey comes through. It is the type of novel that grows with the reader. Reading it at different times in ones life will change what the reader gets out of it and enjoys. It is a timeless classic that continues to get better over time.

Average customer rating:

received damaged
Very poor audio rendition
gatsby dvd audio
Tim Robbins Narrates "The Great Gatsby" Brilliantly
Gatsby comes alive

The Great Gatsby CD
F Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Caedmon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0060098910
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Book Description

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's portrait of the Jazz Age in all its decadence and excess, is, as editor Maxwell Perkins praised it in 1924, "a wonder." It remains one of the most widely read, translated, admired, imitated and studied twentieth-century works of American fiction.

This deceptively simple work, Fitzgerald's best known, was hailed by critics as capturing the spirit of the generation. In Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald embodies some of America's strongest obsessions: wealth, power, greed, and the promise of new beginnings.

The recording includes a selection of letters written by Fitzgerald to his editor, Maxwell Perkins, his agent, Harold Ober, and friends and associates, including Willa Cather, H.L. Mencken, John Peale Bishop and Gertrude Stein.

Performed by Tim Robbins

Customer Reviews:

received damaged.......2007-07-29

received damaged and returned. amazon did not have another copy to send. the $5.00 creidit was mostly offset by my being sharged for shipping. a very unsatisfactory experience

Very poor audio rendition.......2007-06-19

I have listened to only a few tracks of this book-on-CD, and maybe I should wait for a while before posting a review, but here is what I can already say. First, while Scott Fitzgerald is clearly a great writer, he writes about characters who are so far from who I am and I care about that I wonder if I will ever really like his novels. I have read "This side of paradise" before listening to this one, and found it equally uninteresting. Almost everyone seems to be an obnoxious and spoiled character. There is way too much aristocracy, money and privilege, and I find all characters rather fake. BUT, what is worse about this CD is... Tim Robbins. He reads mostly with an annoyingly low, dreamy voice, playing all women with a terrible fake-feminine voice which really seems to come from a drag queen. I will never understand why so many men have to read women's voices as if words were spoken by a drag queen. Overall, this is a pretty bad audio book.

gatsby dvd audio.......2007-05-14

Tim Robbins does an excellent job reading this book! Well worth the purchase.

Tim Robbins Narrates "The Great Gatsby" Brilliantly.......2007-04-04

Tim Robbins does a first rate job narrating "The Great Gatsby." I am not much of fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, but for me Gatsby is by far Fitzgerald's best book. Tim Robbins makes this a powerful story.

I have two minor criticisms. First, the chapter designations are left out of the narration. Since my son and I were reading this book as a school assignment, we needed to know what chapter we were listening to. Second, the tracks on the CD were too long, generally 10 - 18 minutes. Tracks every 3 - 4 minutes are far more useful. But these are minor complaints, and I loved the book and the way it is read.

Gatsby comes alive.......2007-01-10

Tim Robbins, what talent. He became each of the characters, it was great. Enjoyed it immensely, drove beyond my destination to finish listening. Haha, never occurred to me that we have a stereo at home!!!! The last disc with F. Scott's letters was amazing, really cool.

The Great Gatsby (Penguin Critical Studies Guide)

Average customer rating:

dreams
Falls Flat
the best i read
Gatsby will hit you when you are least expecting
3 and a half stars actually

The Great Gatsby (Penguin Critical Studies Guide)
Kathleen Parkinson
Manufacturer: Penguin Global
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140771972

Book Description

Kathleen Parkinson places this brilliant and bitter satire on the moral failure of the Jazz Age firmly in the context of Scott Fitzgerald's life and times. She explores the intricate patterns of the novel, its chronology, locations, imagery and use of colour, and how these contribute to a seamless interplay of social comedy and symbolic landscape. She devotes a perceptive chapter to Fitzgerald's controversial portrayal of women and goes on to discuss how the central characters, Gatsby and Nick Carraway, embody and confront the dualism inherent in the American dream.

Customer Reviews:

dreams.......2002-05-29

This book is about knowing that some dreams are too far from reach, yet we still always try to attain them. Like Gatsby, we are taunted by how close we can come to that dream, but in the end, we realize that our efforts are fruitless. Each of us have our own "Daisy" -- each person did during the 20's, each person does now, each person will in the future -- The Great Gatsby is a classic. Fitzgerald does a fantastic job depicting a timeless theme that people of all time periods have experienced.

Falls Flat.......2002-05-18

I don't know if its just me, but I did not like this book too much. It feels empty- missing something almost. Perhaps it is Nick. He seems to be without a personality. He's just there. The story might as well be told in third person for crying out loud. I like protagonists with personality. Also, the author is quite sexist and racist and that is unacceptable.

I did give it two stars becuase to the author's credit, it was a tidy little book and not a sprawing mess. But then, it was too tidy and neat. After finishing it, I thought, "so what?" It did not particularly dazzle me and enlighten me, and I was not entertained. It is, all in all, a hollow book.

the best i read.......2002-05-03

i know i probabnly didnt read alot but i was assgiened this book. its complexity is so thrilling. i truly recommmend it!
its something that each of us has to ponder about ourselves becuz truly...
we are what we crate ourselves.
if u read this book ull know what im talking about.

Gatsby will hit you when you are least expecting.......2002-03-26

deep and insightful, full of intellegent analogies and representations. i read Gatsby the begining of my junior year in high school and-didnt really like it. i wrote papers on it, and dissected the ...poor novel. now-months later-it finally hits me: Gatsby is a book to be read and enjoyed! not dissected and torn appart. all the quotes and passages that i liked so much came rushing back to me... i understood what fitz may have been writing about! i though and though and thought about Gatsby and realized that i did not just Like the book-i [really] LOVED IT!

3 and a half stars actually.......2002-03-23

The novel is beautiful written. I have one problem is with the theme: money doesn't buy. I don't disagree with that statement, it is just king of obvious. I mean it is not exactly an epiphaney.

Average customer rating:

a dull book full of dull pompous characters.
Fitzgerald's weakest novel, but a good read....
Fitzgerald's most personal novel
I love books and this one is just bad...
Fitzgerald would give anything for a happy ending?

Tender Is the Night
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 068480154X

Amazon.com

In the wake of World War I, a community of expatriate American writers established itself in the salons and cafes of 1920s Paris. They congregated at Gertrude Stein's select soirees, drank too much, married none too wisely, and wrote volumes--about the war, about the Jazz Age, and often about each other. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, were part of this gang of literary Young Turks, and it was while living in France that Fitzgerald began writing Tender Is the Night. Begun in 1925, the novel was not actually published until 1934. By then, Fitzgerald was back in the States and his marriage was on the rocks, destroyed by Zelda's mental illness and alcoholism. Despite the modernist mandate to keep authors and their creations strictly segregated, it's difficult not to look for parallels between Fitzgerald's private life and the lives of his characters, psychiatrist Dick Diver and his former patient turned wife, Nicole. Certainly the hospital in Switzerland where Zelda was committed in 1929 provided the inspiration for the clinic where Diver meets, treats, and then marries the wealthy Nicole Warren. And Fitzgerald drew both the European locale and many of the characters from places and people he knew from abroad.

In the novel, Dick is eventually ruined--professionally, emotionally, and spiritually--by his union with Nicole. Fitzgerald's fate was not quite so novelistically neat: after Zelda was diagnosed as a schizophrenic and committed, Fitzgerald went to work as a Hollywood screenwriter in 1937 to pay her hospital bills. He died three years later--not melodramatically, like poor Jay Gatsby in his swimming pool, but prosaically, while eating a chocolate bar and reading a newspaper. Of all his novels, Tender Is the Night is arguably the one closest to his heart. As he himself wrote, "Gatsby was a tour de force, but this is a confession of faith."

Book Description

Published in 1934, Tender Is the Night was one of the most talked-about books of the year. "It's amazing how excellent much of it is," Ernest Hemingway said to Maxwell Perkins. "I will say now," John O'Hara wrote Fitzgerald, "Tender Is the Night is in the early stages of being my favorite book, even more than This Side of Paradise." And Archibald MacLeish exclaimed: "Great God, Scott...You are a fine writer. Believe it -- not me."

Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character -- lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative -- Tender Is the Night, Mabel Dodge Luhan remarked, raised F. Scott Fitzgerald to the heights of "a modern Orpheus."

Download Description

"Published in 1934, Tender Is the Night was one of the most talked-about books of the year. ""It's amazing how excellent much of it is,"" Ernest Hemingway said to Maxwell Perkins. ""I will say now,"" John O'Hara wrote Fitzgerald, ""Tender Is the Night is in the early stages of being my favorite book, even more than This Side of Paradise."" And Archibald MacLeish exclaimed: ""Great God, Scott...You are a fine writer. Believe it -- not me."" Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character -- lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative -- Tender Is the Night, Mabel Dodge Luhan remarked, raised F. Scott Fitzgerald to the heights of ""a modern Orpheus."" "

Customer Reviews:

a dull book full of dull pompous characters........2007-08-18

i usually finish a book this size in about 3 days. "tender is the night" took me about 7 months to painfully crawl through. i could only handle a few pages at a time. it was like a sleep inducing narcotic, without being any fun at all. I read and (i believe) i loved "the great gatsby" about 20 years ago. i had been thinking it was time to reread that work, but now i am afraid to. "tender is the night," was soooo bad. if the characters in this tedious book were drawn from the lives of the fitzgeralds (as i've read they were), then it's no wonder that zelda went insane & f scott drank himself into an early grave. (Dear God, as i write this i can sense the gravitational pull toward the unhelpful button that is being exerted on computer mouses all over america. what am i doing! yet i can't help myself. on i go.) who could stand such pompous dullards for company? if all books were filled with people like the ones found in this novel, I would simply read "Marley & Me," and call it a day for book reading. yuck.

Fitzgerald's weakest novel, but a good read...........2007-07-07

Through the narrative, it's clear that Fitzgerald cannot choose which character to develop, and in the end, none is explored satisfactorily. As a panorama of failed marriage, "Tender" lacks the strength of "The Beautiful and Damned", which I consider to be similar and superior, though less popular.

But still, F. Scott Fitzgerald is F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the writing is wondrous, but this is not his quintessential book.

If the absurdist movement is regaining steam in American culture, this explains the resurgence of popularity in this novel, which though strong in the first third, turns out as an unsatisfying mess.

Fitzgerald's most personal novel.......2007-06-21

In a Swiss sanatorium above lake Zürich, Dr Richard (Dick) Diver meets a fascinating young patient, Nicole Warren. Nicole suffers from Divided Personality at its acute down-hill phase which translates in her fear of men because she was the victim of incest after her mother's death.

Nicole's state improves after some time at the clinic and Richard marries her. They move to the French Riviera where they live in the glamour provided by Nicole's family money but soon their luck runs out.

This novel is Fitzgerald's most personal one if one considers that his own wife Zelda became increasingly troubled with mental illness in the 1930s and so the story of Dick Diver and his schizophrenic wife Nicole shows the pain that the author went through himself. It is the moving account of the collapse of a marriage and an attempt to diagnose the sickness and destruction that money breeds. Dick's final loneliness in the novel reflects Fitzgerald's own dive into drink and despair.

I love books and this one is just bad..........2007-04-22

Boring, outdated ex-patriate story of life in Paris between the wars, focusing on a young American actress, a psychologist Dr. Diver and his wife, an American baroness with issues. Lots of drinking and gossip.

Fitzgerald would give anything for a happy ending?.......2007-04-16

Why does Nicole and Dick's marriage disintigrate? The obvious answer is that Dick compromised his integrity marrying Nicole for her money and that Dick is an egomaniac, needing to be needed.

The deeper more true answer is that Nicole and Dick didn't have a partnership. She was sick and couldn't give very much back to Dick--to the relationship. And it gets tiring or boring always doing the same things for the same person to save them from themselves over and over again. Co-dependent relationships don't work.

Although a lot of the discussions about mental illness are extremely dated, some of the descriptions are painfully accurate. I identified with Nicole's sister who could only stop worrying about Nicole if: 1) Nicole married a Doctor to take care of her, and 2) if Niole lived near a sanitarium.

This is what it is like to have a loved one who is mentally ill:
"It was necessary to treat her [Nicole] with active, affirmative insistence, keeping the road to reality always open, making the road to escape harder going. But the brillance, the versatility of madness is akin to the resourcefulness of water seeping through and over and around a dike. It requires the united front of many people to work against it".

Too bad there are no organized ways of providing an organized front in our culture to help the mentally ill.

Perhaps Fitzgerald (FSF) would have swapped his well being for Zelda's--a prayer, "Lord, take my sanity but give Zelda back hers. Unlike Nicole, Zelda didn't get better.

I loved the description of the Rivera and Switzerland in the 1920s. I wish i could have been a part of it. The first part of the book is like watching the movie "To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. You just love the ambience.

I liked this book better than _The Great Gatsby_ because I cared more about the characters and because it is autobiographical, and because I have had a loved one who is mentally ill.

The Great Gatsby: Complete and Unabridged (Audio Editions)

Average customer rating:

A Monument in Audio Book History
Maybe Gatsby wasn't great, but the story is...
Heartrending
What it means to be an American
Thought Provoking

The Great Gatsby: Complete and Unabridged (Audio Editions)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: The Audio Partners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1572702567

Book Description

The mysterious Jay Gatsby embodies the American notion that it is possible to redefine oneself and persuade the world to accept that definition. Gatsby's youthful neighbor, Nick Carraway, fascinated with the display of enormous wealth in which Gatsby revels, finds himself swept up in the lavish lifestyle of Long Island society during the Jazz Age. Considered Fitzgerald's best work, The Great Gatsby is a mystical, timeless story of integrity and cruelty, vision and despair. Now available unabridged on CD, Alexander Scourby delivers Fitzgerald's story in “one of the finest readings ever recorded” (The New York Times). “[Fitzgerald's] talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings.” — Ernest Hemingway

Customer Reviews:

A Monument in Audio Book History.......2005-09-29

Scott Fitzgerald, a monumental talent who only occasionally got things working right, made Gatsby great by the extraordinary invention of Nick Carraway. Carraway as narrator provided the exact perfect pitch: more awestruck than he would admit, more moral than it was fashionable to reveal -- always objective and distanced and subtle and charming, genuinely decent and impeccably well mannered, a little dangerously smitten himself by the lovely but corrupt Jordan Baker.

Alexander Scourby, one of the greatest reading voices of his era (overlapping Fitzgerald's enough to know and feel it all) here does Carraway in a way that cannot, therefore, again be quite equalled. Imagine having a recording of a great contemporary actor reading Ahab's speeches in Moby Dick, and one begins to appreciate the gift that we only now have in recorded sound, something we are already quite casual about. But there is much more here than historical accuracy. Scourby's voice wraps around every phrase of Fitzgeral's text with both an actor's professionalism and a good reader's care, making it not only uncannily his own monument but also a monument in audio book history. It sets the bar, and anyone interested in the recorded voice as an art form should own this for repeated learning.

Maybe Gatsby wasn't great, but the story is..........2004-09-28

There is a reason why this is required reading in advanced literature classes throughout the country. This is without a doubt one of the best tales ever told. It should be used as an example to any aspiring writer of what great writing can be. The thing that makes it so great is Fitzgerald's ability to formulate characters, both large and small, and his ability to have them interact in a manner that is at once both imaginative and realistic. This makes the story, which in and of itself is not more amazing than other books, more amazing because you are compelled to believe the plausibility of a story that is incredible. Even if you are not a literature student you will find this book an enjoyable read that is intellectually stimulating, yet easy reading for those reading to relax. Many have copied this story directly and indirectly because of the lesson it teaches (that in the story about life and that about creating a story) and many will continue to do so in the future.

Heartrending.......2003-01-26

I listened to this book over a few nights with my wife, after having read it first some sixteen years ago. It is a masterpiece, and known widely as such, but what surprised me on hearing it was how the book I'd remembered as terribly romantic was actually rather clear-eyed and dark. My wife, who had never read it, listened spell-bound, and at the end burst into tears at the sadness of it. A word about Scourby as reader - he is restrained but emotional, captures the personality of each character with a slightly different tone, and - most importantly for me - brings out the fact that the closing pages, which are often quoted out of context as deeply romantic, are in fact painfully cynical, a voice of disenchantment about the cost of America, not its promise. A masterpiece on the page and on tape. Can't recommend it too highly.

What it means to be an American.......2002-10-28

After living abroad in the Middle East for a year and traveling through more than twenty-five countries, I recently re-read The Great Gatsby, seeking the familiarity of America. The Great Gatsby captures what is different about Americans and the American experience. At its most basic, America represents endless striving for greatness. Whether in business, science, athletics or world affairs, Americans imagine and seek the best. Though we often stumble and fall short; though we often cut corners to achieve our dreams - striving for greatness is the essence of America. In Gatsby, we feel what it is like to want something so badly, to succeed in reaching it and to ultimately fail. How many of us have not shared these experiences in some way or another? American writings today, such as David Ebershoff's Pasadena (2002) and Scott Gaille's The Law Review (2002), continue to explore Gatsby's central theme of obsession with greatness. In this time of global uncertainty, we can get back in touch with what it means to be an American by reading such books.

Thought Provoking.......2002-08-27

This was a book that stayed with me long after hearing it read. I found Gatsby to be a very intriguing character because of his singleminded passion. I enjoyed understanding the thoughts and ideas of Carraway. The writing provided vivid imagery of a time gone by and yet it was a timeless story. Highly recommend.

Intimate Lies: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham Her Son's Story

Average customer rating:

Insightful and entertaining
Fasinating

Intimate Lies: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham Her Son's Story
Robert Westbrook
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060183438

Amazon.com

He was a once-praised novelist and short-story writer who battled alcoholism and obscurity and moved to Los Angeles for his third desperate attempt at making money by screenwriting. She was a British expatriate, an up-and-coming Hollywood gossip columnist with a secret past. Although Sheilah Graham wrote about her romance with F. Scott Fitzgerald after his death (one of the many versions she wrote of her life story, Beloved Infidel, was made into a movie with Deborah Kerr and Gregory Peck), she never quite told anyone the whole truth. Her son, Robert Westbrook, works to set the record straight, using his mother's papers and other resources to place the affair within the contexts of Graham's and Fitzgerald's lives and the "golden age" of filmmaking in which it occurred. The result is a love story peppered with scintillating anecdotes about the movie stars and writers with whom they rubbed elbows, an intimate portrayal of an artistic (but financially ruthless) community as viewed through two of its fiercest aspirants.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful and entertaining.......1999-10-11

I love it when nonfiction keeps me up late at night, turning pages. "Intimate Lies" may well be the definitive source on the last years of Fitzgerald's life, during which he tried (and failed) to be a Hollywood screenwriter. Westbrook's evenhanded, well-researched treatment of the romance between Fitzgerald and columnist Sheilah Graham (Westbrook's mother)is a snapshot of Hollywood just before World War II, a mixture of glamor, socialism and absurd censorship.

Fasinating.......1998-11-11

I didn't really expect to like this book. I have always enjoyed F. Scott Fitzgerald's works and that was what drew me to this book. I had heard about Sheilah Graham and i think i had read somewhere of there relationship. Bored one day with my usual 'type' of books i picked this one up amd began to read. What struck me immendiatly was the honesty, brutal at times being displayed by the Miss Graham's own son Robert Westbrook. His writing is presise and detailed recreating the golden age of Hollywood. He presents Fitzgerald honestly showing other aspects of the doomed author. His mother is shown as a master of the 'makeover' recreating herself from a very humble beginning. Take a chance with this book i think you'll be pleasently surprised..

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All the Hollywood hypocrites
Incomplete is incomplete
Betrayal of a Demigod
There will never be another F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Last Achievement

The Love of the Last Tycoon
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0020199856

Book Description

The Love of the Last Tycoon, edited by the preeminent Fitzgerald scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli, is a restoration of the author's phrases, words, and images that were excised from the 1940 edition, giving new luster to an unfinished literary masterpiece. It is the story of the young Hollywood mogul Monroe Stahr, who was inspired by the life of boy-genius Irving Thalberg, and is an exposé of the studio system in its heyday. The Love of the Last Tycoon is now available for the first time in paperback.

Customer Reviews:

All the Hollywood hypocrites.......2005-06-30

The book edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli is a work in progress, left with various kinds of incompletion at F. Scott Fitzgerald's death. The narrator, Cecilia Brady, is on planes frequently. She attends Bennington. She is the daughter of a producer. Monroe Stahr is someone who was born sleepless. He has no talent for rest. Pat Brady, Cecilia's father, and Monroe Stahr are partners. Wylie White, one of the travelers on the plane, is a writer.

There is never a time when the studio is absolutely quiet. There are always technicians present. There is an earthquake and a small water main bursts. Stahr's work is secret in part, devious, slow. He seems ready to shelve a work the writers have labored over to bring to the screen. He notes that when he wants a Eugene O'Neill play he will buy one. If a director disagrees with Stahr he does not advertise it. The writers are people who are employed because they accept the system and manage to stay sober.

Stahr sees a girl who resembles his deceased wife. He has her found in order to see her. He has difficulty explaining his interest to her and she is troubled by people fawning for reason of his power and, in general, the notoriety of being seen in his company. Sustained effort is difficult in California it is asserted. It is Monroe Stahr's ability in this area that accounts for his success.

F. Scott Fitzgerlad chased ghosts, evanescence. Stahr pursues a girl, Kathleen Moore, because she is the image of his dead wife. The author pursued the following idea obsessively--when did his life derail. The Kathleen Moore character shares some of the attributes of Sheila Graham. She lived in England previously and was tutored in classical literature by her live-in companion.

It is reported that Fitzgerald had a life-long capacity to hero-worship. A writer character in the novel compares Monroe Stahr to Lincoln carrying on a long war on many fronts. At the end of the volume there are working notes and a brief biography. Revisiting the bright, shining world of F. Scott Fitzgerald, even with the melancholy features, is lots of fun.

Incomplete is incomplete.......2005-06-06

I have no doubt that The Last Tycoon would have warranted at least one more star if Fitzgerald had lived to finish it. But like it or not, we have no way of knowing what he would have written and can only judge the merits of what he did write. And that, in any case, is still pretty good. It is definitely a departure from his earlier works, and a tantalizing taste of what he might have continued to do with his talent later on. The images of Southern California back when it was a nice place to live are wonderful, as is the behind-the-scenes look at the movie industry during its golden era.

This is also the only Fitzgerald work I know of in which the narrator is a woman, and it's defnitely fascinating to see how he went about that exercize. Cecilia Brady is just about as egotistical and cynical as most of his other protagonists, but her innocence is refreshing. Also, telling the story through the eyes of one just outside the loop of the movie industry (she's the daughter of one producer, and hopelessly in love with another) was a very clever move. It allowed the plot to develop around the personal life of Cecilia's crush, Monroe Stahr, with only a bit of the bitterness from his work-related troubles seeping through.

But the sad truth is that that plot had only begun to develop. We know far more about Monroe Stahr from the notes and sketches Fitzgerald never intended for publication than we do from the "finished" part of the novel (which wasn't entirely finished either). If nothing else, though, this was a great start. As long as you don't expect more than that, it's worth reading.

Betrayal of a Demigod.......2005-04-02

Fitzgerald's last novel--left unfinished due to his heart attack--presents darker themes than his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. Told by Cecelia, the 18-year-old daughter of a studio hotshot,and alternately by an omniscient narrator, this story depicts the glory days of the Hollywood studio system, where producers were America's new royalty. Egos collide, budgets quail and the earth quakes at the dawn of the Forties, when the country was threatened by the red menace of Communism. Not even Hollywood was immune from the birth pangs of unionism and pre- McCarthy era political paranoia over the secret revolution of the masses.

The protagonist is 44-year-old Monroe Stahr, a successful and powerful producer whose insight re movie-going America usually proves correct. Having a hopeless crush on this associate of her father's Cecelia gradually realizes that her workaholic idol has fallen in love with a mysterious lady--a British Cinderella raised completely outside the glittering purviews of starlets and gossip columnists. The tragic affair between the mogul and the lovely Kathleen (who resembles his beloved dead wife) is doomed by her prior commitment to an American man, her humble past and Stahr's own failure to take decisive action at critical moments in their poignant relationship.

The completed storyline may be deduced from Fitzgerald's extensive notes for each chapter,plus his conversations with associates. Health concerns plagued both Stahr and ultimately Cecelia--presaging the author's own private medical battle. How frustrating for him (and his alter-ego) to be snuffed out while yet so productive and mentally alert. It would be curious to see how contemporary Hollywood might finish this story if made into a movie. Like rats caught in a maze of their own devising, the characters are trapped by weakness and vanity, while naively convinced of their own personal or business power. As evil schemes corrupt backstage Hollywood, filth and crime trickle down to ultimately contaminate even the once idealistic Stahr. Tragically he did not live long enough to impress the man on the beach: that movies Were worth attending. THE LAST TYCOON proves a starkly grim but gripping tale of searing emotions at the end of the Depression era.

There will never be another F. Scott Fitzgerald.......2003-03-09

No other author in history has so astutely penned such profound and sublime novels with such amazing social insight as has Scottie(as his contemporaries called him) - all the while doing it with such amazing and unparalleled grace and lucidity. While The Love of the Last Tycoon may not be finished, I can easily discern that F. Scott was well on his way to achieving his goal -penning a novel on the level of The Great Gatsby and not as "depressing" as Tender is the Night.

What makes this so amazing, yet so painful, is the extraordinary potential that this work exudes. The Last Tycoon does seem to be like Gatsby moreso than any other Fitzgerald work in its endearing and sympathetic characters such as the self-made Monroe Stahr, the young Cecilia, & tragic Kathleen. As usual, Fitzgerald recreates and tells of his life experiences - this time of his tumultuous years in Hollywood as a screen writer. Although hardened somewhat at this stage of his career, Fitzgerald, like his hero Stahr, still purveys his characteristic idealism laced with a latent hint of foreboding tragedy inevitably awaiting on the horizon. Stahr, like Fitzgerald, is forever viewed as a boy wonder, despite being a seasoned veteran at this stage of his career, due to his overnight success at age 23. So, Fitzgerald, who had the splendid This Side of Paradise published at age 23, and who also was known for his propensity to turn a sickly pale white just as Stahr does, ingeniously incorporates himself into his work one last time.

The incredibly insightful notes, outlines, and revisions written by Fitzgerald shown at the conclusion of the book open an amazing new world of intropection to the reader. I give it 5 stars not for what it is, but for what it would have been. I just finished reading all of his works chronologically and I must say, unequivocally, that this very well could have eclipsed his other works of fiction, all of which are truly sublime.

"It is an escape into a lavish, romantic past that perhaps will not come again into our time." - F. Scott on The Last Tycoon

The Last Achievement.......2002-06-03

This work derives part of its importance from what it says about Fitzgerald at the untimely end of his career: fans of his earlier work will be pleased to see that this final tome showed all the hallmarks of becoming another masterpiece. By 1940, when "Tycoon" was written, FSF hadn't written a book in six years. But the familiar voice, though muted, had not been lost.

The lapse provides welcome proof of the endurance of Fitzgerald's talent over time. We can only imagine what biting, incisive insights he would have come up with if magically sent to chronicle the 1990s.

Fitzgerald's "Unfinished Symphony" is presented in this Scribner paperback edition in a way that will appeal to both casual readers and serious students. Leading Fitzgerald expert Matthew Bruccoli has assembled the fragments of this book into a gripping and highly readable narrative, and the publisher has included a detailed preface exploring FSF's thoughts at the genesis of the work, as well as a selection of working notes which will delight writing students looking for some insight into the workings of a great mind.

This book tells the story of Monroe Stahr, an early Hollywood producer who makes his mark on the industry almost at its very inception. Stahr's word is law within his studio, and a single order from him is enough to reshape, delay or outright kill a film in process. Since the death of his wife, actress Minna Davis, Stahr's job is his life - a life that illness and overwork threaten to cut short. But a chance sighting of englishwoman Kathleen Moore brings back a flood of old memories and new desires. Stahr's pursuit of Moore leads him briefly into the world outside the studio, and then her actions leave him reeling from the blows just when his rivals gang up against him.

Amazon.com

Fitzgerald's first novel, reprinted in the handsome Everyman's Library series of literary classic, uses numerous formal experiments to tell the story of Amory Blaine, as he grows up during the crazy years following the First World War. It also contains a new introduction by Craig Raine that describes critical and popular reception of the book when it came out in 1920.

Book Description

This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic and witty first novel, was written when the author was only twenty-three years old. This semiautobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic Princeton student Amory Blaine received critical raves and catapulted Fitzgerald to instant fame. Now, readers can enjoy the newly edited, authorized version of this early classic of the Jazz Age, based on Fitzgerald's original manuscript. In this definitive text, This Side of Paradise captures the rhythms and romance of Fitzgerald's youth and offers a poignant portrait of the "Lost Generation."

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There was, also, a curious strain of weakness running crosswise through his make-up ... a harsh phrase from the lips of an older boy (older boys usually detested him) was liable to sweep him off his poise into surly sensitiveness, or timid stupidity ... he was a slave to his own moods and he felt that though he was capable of recklessness and audacity, he possessed neither courage, perseverance, nor self-respect.

Customer Reviews:

At times sophomoric but ultimately dazzling and memorable.......2007-08-25

In the beginning of the book, I was turned off by its seeming self-indulgent tone and nature. A brilliant, handsome, self-centered young man goes to prep school, then to Princeton, then out in into the world. The story seemed obviously autobiographical, and I knew what had happened to F. Scott Fitzgerald: a short, romantic but unpleasant, alcoholic life. So I read on, with the thought, "This is explaining why his life was such a disaster", so maybe that can be a reason to keep reading. (Also, I wrote a lot of largely autobiographical, very poor -- not that This Side of Paradise was poor in any way -- fiction when I was in my twenties, so maybe that was bothering me, as I identified too much with Fitzgerald's self-obsession.) And, as Amory Blaine's (the Fitzgerald-like protagonist's) story progressed, it became more entrancing and the self-centeredness less an obstacle and more of the heart of the novel itself. In the end, I would have to summarize that it was a beautiful, brilliant, compelling book, at least as good as Fitzgerald's other work. It's about the experience of the transition from childhood to adult life as viewed by a priviledged (although he wastes/loses his advantages), wonderful (if not very likable at times), artistic genius -- expressed aptly through prose as well as poetry and playscript-type sequences.

Autobiography of Fitzgerald? Probably [91].......2007-06-17

Some novels are great stories. Some novels are stories greatly written or told. And, in rare instances, some novels are greatly written great stories. This is one of those rare novels.

This novel closely follows the prepubescent Amory Blaine through his 20's. In the beginning, he is a spoiled boy whose father is distant and mother is a great but disturbed woman. With cash in their pockets, Amory and his mother, Beatrice, enjoy one another as best of friends. Home schooled, he is little boy Fauntleroy during the turn of the century America.

Things change, step by step, with Amory's character increasing while his bank account is decreasing. Fitzgerald calls Amory the Egotist in Book One, and then dons the title "Personage" for that same, but now grown, Amory in Book Two.

This is very autobiographical. Amory, an Irish Catholic (like Fitzgerald), lives his high school years in St. Paul (like Fitzgerald) then attends prep school (like Fitzgerald) as he is a privileged youth (like Fitzgerald) and later attends Princeton (like Fitzgerald) where he becomes part of Princeton's Triangle Club (like Fitzgerald) and follows Princeton for the Army (like Fitzgerald). Book One, in fact, was written while Fitzgerald was attending Princeton.

What makes this novel more interesting than other Fitzgerald novels are the different - and somewhat raw - items within it pages. Scribner initially rejected the book because of it being raw. The rawness is evidenced by numerous poems tossed about within it - great stuff. There are added poems from girls he adored - more great stuff. The letters are also great and pithy. And, in the "Debutante" chapter of Book Two, he writes in playwright form the Amory wooing of beautiful Rosalind. In his short novel there is poetry, prose and a play. Although somewhat disjointed, it works. And, works magnificently.

The ending really shows you something about the young man. He preaches Russia's Socialism to a fat capitalist who kindly gives the Princetonian a ride. Ayn Rand (the Russian born writer who immigrated to America) almost rebuts this portion of the book with her 1957 "Atlas Shrugged." Remember, Stalin and the ugly head of Soviet Socialism did not exist at the time of "This Side of Paradise." Rand, and her people, lived through some of the Red Terror and by 1957 had learned much more about how Russian implementation of Socialism seriously deviated from the ideology espoused by Marx and his peers.

Fitzgerald is a great writer. Maybe America's greatest of the 20th century. And, this close-to-home rendition of thought and emotion, may be the most poignant depiction of what the author felt and feared. If you have any interest in Fitzgerald, this novel is for you.

The book that launched a thousand ships.......2007-05-07

It's not Fitzgerald's best (Gatsby and The Beautiful and Damned share that distinction), but if you love modern American literature, then you are lucky to have this document of the youthful enthusiasm, exuberance, self-assuredness, and early blossoming of one or our greatest most tragic writers. This is Fitzgerald's foray and kickstart into the world of glamorous literati that he longed for and attained in this first novel. We should all marvel at that accomplishment and rejoice with Amory Blaine's own cocky venture into life's jaunt.

Apparently misunderstood.......2006-09-06

For all the reviews that mention how egotistical and arrogant Amory is, well, that's the point! The book deals with how he goes from being so egotistical to finding out that there's more to life than his self-indulgence. He learns a great deal, and is faced with moral choices that he must deal with. He feels so guilty in places that he mentally projects the devil staring him down, which is a heck of a way to learn your moral stance on something. Fitzgerald admits Amory's arrogance throughout the book and never makes Amory unaware of it, either. But look at it as Amory's life lessons and get swept away in the magical quality of the prose, which for a young man writing his first novel is astounding in parts. Also, for those who find it corny, etc., try to remember that it was published in 1920. Lots of perfectly serious things from that time would seem corny today.

Read this F Scott novel last.......2006-08-12

F Scotts first novel really should be the last thing you read,as it is a pot pourri of the themes and styles F Scott used to mesmerizing effect in his other novels and many short stories.
I felt that,had this been my first encounter with F Scott;I wouldn't have come back for more.It starts off like a witty Oscar Wilde tale,then heads into meloncholy and philosophy,and at times tries to be too literary for its own good.
But I found 'This side' hugely important and enjoyable having read his 3 other completed novels;Pat Hobby and the benchmark of all short stories,the wonderful "Diamond as big as the Ritz".(Only Richard Yates' 'The Builders' or 'Liars in Love' can be said to have reached that mark-but please list others you feel are as good;I can't read everything and appreciate pointers!)
'This side' is a great slice of history and F Scott displays his many writing gifts throughout.That 'This side' doesnt quite run smoothly or consistently is ,I admit, a trivial criticism.F Scott was just 23 when this was published and helped change the style of the novel.

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