Product Description
The Beautiful and Damned
Flappers and Philosophers
Tales of the Jazz Age
This Side of Paradise ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great.
I was ecstatic when I saw the price for so much great literature was only $1. You could not ask for anything better at a better price. Fitzgerald is a truly great author, my personal favorite, and I believe that everyone should take the time to read his work. ... Read more

Product Description
The inspiration for the major motion picture starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett—plus eighteen other stories by the beloved author of The Great Gatsby

IN THE TITLE STORY, a baby born in 1860 begins life as an old man and proceeds to age backward. F. Scott Fizgerald hinted at this kind of inversion when he called his era “a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken.” Perhaps nowhere in American fiction has this “Lost Generation” been more vividly preserved than in Fitzgerald’s short fiction. Spanning the early twentieth-century American landscape, this original collection captures, with Fitzgerald’s signature blend of enchantment and disillusionment, America during the Jazz Age. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Kindle version should cost less
This is an example where, for whatever reason, the Kindle version cost more than a hardcopy.This is an outrage.As an avid reader, I expect e-copies, especially with restricted access, to cost less than a new paperback.

Worth the time and $$
Vastly entertaining. You can pretend not to notice the obvious (and rather tacky) attempt to cash on the success of the Pitt movie, suspend your disbeliefs, throw yourself back in time, and simply enjoy the way the stories deliver.

A mixed bag.
Most critics have often thought of Fitzgerald's short stories as what he did for money between writing novels and haven't had a high opinion of their worth. Many are, indeed, a poor man's version of O'Henry stories with "twist" endings. About a quarter of the stories here, though, are pure genius with such tales as "the Ice Palace" and "Benjamin Button."If you are a fan of the recent movie, or of Fitzgerald, it is a worthwhile purchase.

short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Enjoying this book so far, I forgot how much I used to enjoy Fitzgerald's stories, it has been a long time since I read him. But I really brought the book to read Benjamin Button, I loved the movie but it was a real stretch from the short story.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and other stories is a fine collection of short fiction by Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is best known as the premier chronicler of the Jazz Age in such novels as "The Far Side of Paradise"; "The Beautiful and Damned". "The Great Gatsby" and "Tender is the Night." However he was also a short story author churning out stories for popular periodicals of the day such as The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers and The Scribner House magazine.
Penguin has taken two of his short story collections "Flappers and Philosophers" and Tales of the Jazz Age" combining them in a fat Penguin Classics edition. The stories are those the Princeton man wrote at college and in his early career.
The Peguin edition includes
The Penguin edition has "Benjamin Button" on the cover in order to cash in on the popularity of the film starring Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button occurs in Baltimore where a child is born who is an old man. The fantasy follows his career as he becomes progressively younger. If you can accept the absurdity of the premise you can relax and enjoy a story well written and witty.
The stories are uneven in quality and interest. Among the best ones in this collection are:
The Diamond Big as the Ritz-A wild fantasy set in the American West in which the hero visits a school chum who owns a mountain made of solid diamonds who is cruel and keeps prisoners of those unwary to explore into his vast territory.
Bernice Bobs Her Hair is a short O Henry type tale in which Bernice has her hair cut and gets back at a relative who has criticized her appearance.
The Ice Palace is the story of a southern belle with a northern boyfriend. She experiences hatred for the northern way of life symoblized by her being momentarily lost in a huge ice palace built for a winter festival. She bears a resemblance to Scott's Alabama born wife Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald.
The other stories are also worth reading. One does wince when Fitzgerald uses racially insenstive words regarding African-Americans and Jewish persons. In all there are nineteen stories by one of America's greatest authors. ... Read more

Product Description

Written between 1920 and 1937, when F. Scott Fitzgerald was at the height of his creative powers, these ten lyric tales represent some of the author's finest fiction. In them, Fitzgerald creates vivid, timeless characters -- a dissatisfied southern belle seeking adventure in the north; the tragic hero of the title story who lost more than money in the stock market; giddy and dissipated young men and women of the interwar period. From the lazy town of Tarleton, Georgia, to the glittering cosmopolitan centers of New York and Paris, Fitzgerald brings the society of the "Lost Generation" to life in these masterfully crafted gems, showcasing the many gifts of one of our most popular writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Babylon Revisited & other short stories - F Scott Fitzgerald
Used book very good condition.Enjoying the short stories.Will donate to charity book "store" when finished reading them.

An Out -of- Style Writer, Getting Down To Business
The literary voice of theninteen-twenties' "Jazz Age," F. Scott Fitzgerald was out of step with the grimmer thirties. Facing his wife's insanity, increasing alcoholism, and his own obsolesence as a writer, the stories collected here show Fitzgerald facing his demons in bracingly honest prose. If "Crazy Sunday" and the other tales of the adventures of Pat Hobby, down-and-out screenwriter, feel a bit like autobiographical wallow, and "Family In The Wind," about a doctor in the midst of a country tornado, is an interesting if uncharacteristic journey into Steinbeck country, it's the title story of the collection that's worth the price of admission.
Charlie Wales is an ex-broker, returned to Paris after all the good times have gone, with only the goal of regaining custody of his daughter after the death of his wife.A thinly veiled take on Fitzgerald's own troubled relations with daughter Scottie after wife Zelda's madness, it's at once a suspenseful, moving, and lyrical story.All his powers are at work here, as if he knew this was his last shot at literary immortality, and he was just about right.

Hope, Illusion and Reality
F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of our greatest writers.He is best known today for his many wonderful novels, especially The Great Gatsby.As time has passed, his marvelous magazine stories have faded from sight . . . even though those were more widely read than his novels when they were written.

In Babylon Revisited: And Other Stories you will deepen your understanding of the novels . . . and of their author in these often semi-autobiographical tales. The best stories have as much impact as any of the novels in a spare exposition that adds to their power.

Each story deals with the same general theme:We live on hope which is based on illusions about reality.When faced with reality, we happily escape into new hopes based on different illusions. We are sort of like Peter Pan:We don't want to grow up.

The theme comes across with startling persuasiveness as Fitzgerald unpeels the many forms of hopeful illusions that will seem familiar to every reader.

The stories build chronologically across the backdrop of the United States after World War I in the 20's and 30's.That shift in authorship times also inadvertently adds the drama of seeing how the psychology of the young and educated changed as American went from mindless boom to seemingly unending bust.

Fitzgerald has a rich imagination to makes his world open up for readers so that you can feel both the physical sensations and the emotions of the characters . . . and become the characters while you are reading.

The stories themselves have that delightful quality of exaggeration that makes his points indelible.

The Ice Palace explores a Southern beauty's pursuit of an advantageous marriage in the frozen tundra of Minnesota in winter.May Day recounts the pursuit of pleasure and accomplishment by those of various social classes and beliefs.The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a wild tale of a mythical place and the consequences of unlimited wealth.Winter Dreams deals with the painful consequences of acting on the illusions of romantic love.Absolution is an amazing story about how we can carelessly end up being untrue to God and ourselves.The Rich Boy considers how being rich and powerful can get in the way of being close to others.The Freshest Boy looks at being an awkward teenage boy and how he came to make peace with the world. Babylon Revisited shows how our mistakes can come home to roost after we believe we are invulnerable.Crazy Sunday is an astonishing look at the psychology of how we connect to one another through others.The Long Way Out is about a woman who suffers from a mental collapse and is now ready to return to her husband . . . when fate steps in.

My favorite stories in the book are May Day, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Freshest Boy, Babylon Revisited and Crazy Sunday.

If you haven't read these stories before, you have a great treat ahead of you.If you can find a copy of George Guidall's narration for Recorded Books, your pleasure will be even greater.

Babylon Revisited is Timeless and Apt
The Book of Revelations in the New Testament is the most likely source from which F. Scott Fitzgerald draws his "Babylon Revisited".In Revelations, Babylon the Great (also an ancient Near Eastern city of materialism and sexual excess) is the `mother of whores' and the source of all evil in the Roman Empire.She is said to have been defeated by God and judged for her excessive sin.Upon her destruction, the saints rejoice while the merchants and hedonistic pleasure seekers morn.Symbolism abounds in this revision of the timeless tale and the choice of Fitzgerald's title could not be more appropriate.

Charlie himself is the regeneration of Babylon.During the economic boom of the 20's, Charlie and his wife lived life to its fullest and most shallow degree.They partied until sunup.They squandered wealth.We even get the impression that there was a significant amount of infidelity existing on both sides.As with Babylon, Charlie is punished:The stock market crash in 1929 liberates him of a fortune, "his child [is] taken from his control, [and] his wife escaped to a grave in Vermont."

As with Babylon, Charlie's fall had its rejoicers and mourners.Marion, his wife's bereaved sister, saw Charlie's fall as an opportunity to gain control of his child, and with sincere intentions rid her family of the sinner.Though she doesn't expressly rejoice in her brother-in-laws demise, she does blame him for her sister's death and understands why his life has turned out askew.Duncan and Lorraine, on the other hand, mourned the loss of their sinister partner in indulgence.

This story is complete with all of the historic reference and symbolism that has come to define F. Scott Fitzgerald.What a fantastic, unbelievably creative writer.It's amazing how timeless his writings are, and "Babylon Revisited" is the perfect example of that fact.It really makes you think about your own life.

Genius As Big As The Ritz
The king of the 1920's Lit World wrote short stories for big money in Scribner's Magazine, Collier's, Esquire, and Saturday Evening Post.His first novel made him famous, This Side of Paradise, but his subsequent novels including The Great Gatsby sold meagerly.Zelda and Scott went through dough like drunken sailors, so Scott wrote short stories for a quick buck. This group of stories is among his best and though some or all were written commercially, Scott's talent was so huge that they rival his chief competitor's: Hemingway, Parker, Anderson, and Larder in charm and precision.

Above all, Fitzgerald is charming.The drunken rich boys of May Day are close to the authors experience and poignantly revealing.Scott was the son of a failed businessman.His mother's family was well to do and Scott associated with rich beauties that seemed always just beyond a snow covered golf course as in Winter Dreams.His experience with his future wife, Zelda Sear, an Alabama debutante is cloaked in fantasy in Ice Palace. Surely newlyweds are surprised to find they have married strangers.In that there is no secret, but Fitzgerald gives his bride a hysterical nightmare in a St Paul carnival ice maze.The reader loves Sally Carrol and is genuinely caught up in her dilemma of Minnesota in-laws and a suddenly stern husband.

Fitzgerald was a dreamer and The Diamond As Big As the Ritz is a parable about a family so rich, and so self-centered in their luxuries, they murder their guests less the secret of the their wealth be known.In an era where a million dollars could buy a country, Fitzgerald's fascination with success and the rich permeates his work.
... Read more

Product Description
A psychiatrist, Dick Diver, treats and eventually marries a wealthy patient, Nicole. Eventually, this marriage destroys him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

If You're Curious About Fitzgerald, Read This Book
While I enjoyed these stories, they don't come close, in quality, to much of Fitzgerald's earlier work.While some of these stories are funny, and while some possess excellent sentences and great, interesting images, none of them shine like "The Great Gatsby" or "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz."When I first finished this book, I found it hard to imagine that the same man who wrote "Gatsby" also wrote this collection of humorous stories about a truly pitiful Hollywood writer.

Prompted by my new fascination with Fitzgerald, I read Turnbull's biography of Fitzgerald title Scott Fitzgerald, and it was excellent.And now, in light of this biography and my experiences reading Fitzgerald, I'm convinced that this book helps to illustrate Fitzgerald's tremendous, personal transformation.In between Gatsby and Pat Hobby, Fitzgerald's life fell apart.His wife had experienced breakdowns and needed psychiatric care, and Fitzgerald himself was destroyed by alcoholism.His personal life fell apart, and he even tried to commit suicide.Fitzgerald, himself, frequently spoke and wrote about his "crack up."And this book, "The Pat Hobby Stories," reads as if it were written by a literary genius whose world had broken apart.

Further, this book seems to be reflective of Fitzgerald's personal life and feelings.Around the time he wrote it, he was working at Hollywood, where he kept getting shifted from script to script.He was discontent, saying:"It's so barren out here.I don't feel anything out here," (Turnbull 1962, 293), and he described Hollywood as "a dump . . . A hideous town, pointed up by the insulting gardens of its rich, full of the human spirit at a new low of debasement" (Turnbull 1962, 317).This book, "The Pat Hobby Stories," which focuses on the silliness and pathetic-ness of Pat Hobby and his embarrassing adventures in Hollywood, probably captures at least a part of Fitzgerald's feelings for himself and the environment in which he lived.

Ultimately, if you find Fitzgerald interesting, then I recommend reading this book - because it really says something about him.But if you just want to read a great book, I recommend you look elsewhere.

---

Two final, fun notes.First, Fitzgerald once wrote that Hollywood was "a strange conglomeration of a few excellent overtired men making pictures and as dismal a crowd of fakes and hacks at the bottom as you can imagine" (Turnbull 1962, 293).This is a neat quote, when seen in relation to Fitzgerald's fictional creation - Pat Hobby, the dismal hack.Second, Turnbull includes two descriptive sentences which relate, amusingly, to one of the Hobby stories:"At the same time [Fitzgerald] was trying to make gin a substitute for energy, and each week his secretary collected the bottles and disposed of them lest they be noticed in the rubbish" (Turnbull 1962, 298).After reading this book, you might see why this is interesting.

A good book about Hollywood. . .
What a picture. . .
I do get to see Hollywood in the late 1930s. More, though, I get to see Fitzgerald not, in free fall, but, not at his best. Yet, the pictures he is still able to create.
This is a picture from his short story, "Babylon Revisted," Fitzgerald's tale of a once-foolish, now-widowed father hoping to gain custody of his young daughter: "His first feeling (in remembrance of that "crazy spring") was one of awe that he had actually, in his mature years, stolen a tricycle and pedaled (a drunk girlfriend) all over (town) between the small hours and dawn. In retrospect it was nightmare. . .How many weeks or months of dissipation to arrive at that condition of utter irresponsibility?"
The man pedaling that tricycle, I would argue, is Pat Hobby. And these are his collected tales--seemingly unfinished--of dissipation.

Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby
Fitzgerald's early fiction often deals with the case of the young man who harbors elaborate and perhaps outlandish aspirations for success. In the Pat Hobby stories -- Fitzgerald's last published work -- we see depicted a 49-year-old man whose dreams have collided with a bleak reality. Years after his brief heyday as a well-paid film writer in the days of silent films, he is now quite simply a failure.

And yet Pat Hobby is a unique type of loser, one who sympathizes with the bosses and moguls rather than his fellow downtrodden peers at the bottom of the totem pole. Witness for example the startling scene in which Hobby, with righteous indignation, takes a lunch tray to attack an extra who had the audacity to sit at the VIP table in the studio canteen and refused to move. This scene offers a fascinating insight into Fitzgerald's own psychology, if one views Hobby as an alter ego for the author, while also raising broader questions about American culture.

"A Patriotic Short" is the story which best encapsulates these questions, as Hobby bitterly reflects on the contrast between his illustrious past, when he had a house with a swimming pool that was once admired by the President himself, and his current menial assignment editing a lame film script. Here, in just a few pages, Fitzgerald deftly weaves together the American obsessions with celebrity, the presidency, and of course the swimming pool, into a commentary on the idea of success itself.

Any mention of a swimming pool by Fitzgerald evokes the sad fate of Jay Gatsby. And though we might find Hobby a less sympathetic character than Gatsby, in many ways he represents the other side of the same debased coin. Both are tragic figures, equally unable to fulfill their dreams of glamour, and perhaps both equally the victims of the American ethos of success.

The original thing.
Of all Fitzgerald's works, these stories are most accessible, especially for those who saw the golden age of television. Of course, my approach to these short stories was from the height of "Gatsby," and the knowledge of the great film,"The Bad and the Beautiful," so I was taken by surprise with the charm, humor and the creative inspiration found in these Hollywood toss-offs. Not only are they insider truths but hung-over fantasies all at once. Groucho and Robert Cummings came to mind as I laughed out loud. Mel Brooks and Woody Allen should pay him dividends,as well as the TV studios who borrowed from his charming, off-beat take on the Hollywood system.

More Heartbreak from the Dream Dump
Most people know F. Scott Fitzgerald as one of the deans of the lost generation and an icon of the jazz-age. But toward the end of his life, in the late 1930's, Fitzgerald was also a writer for MGM studios, and these stories represent brilliantly and tragically this period of his life.

Through the eyes of Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby, Hollywood hack writer, we see a different side of golden age tinseltown, where an extraordinary number of talented writers and artists migrated to in the 1930's and 40's, only to butt their heads against militant mediocrity and the "studio system." As an archetype, Pat Hobby stands in for them brilliantly.

Also recommended: What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg, The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West, and The Player by Michael Tolkin. ... Read more

Product Description
F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most challenging authors of American literature. Known primarily as the author of The Great Gatsby (1925) and some short fiction, he actually wrote several novels, about 180 stories, and a number of plays, film scenarios, and essays. This reference book includes hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries for Fitzgerald's works, characters, family members, friends, and acquaintances. The volume begins with a chronology that traces Fitzgerald's rise from obscurity with the publication of This Side of Paradise (1920), his studio work and travels, and his lapse into alcoholism and financial ruin. The entries that follow present the essential action in his novels, short stories, plays, and poems; identify all named fictional characters and comment on their significance; and provide brief biographical sketches for persons who figured prominently in his life and career. Many of the entries provide bibliographical information, and the volume closes with a bibliography of the most important general works on Fitzgerald and his works. A thorough index and extensive cross references direct the reader to the copious information in this essential reference book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Charming!
Of course, any of Fitzgerald's work edited by Mr. Bruccoli must be wonderful.These short stories, which appeared in various magazines from the 20s through the 40s are simply charming. Fitzgerald's elegant styleof writing and sensuous story-telling techinque captivate the reader fromthe very first lines. Particularly appealing is Fitzgerld's use of humor- sometimes dry; sometimes understated - and well illustrated in the story,"The Pusher in the Face." Typical of early Fitzgerald, someof these stories end with an ironic twist of fate, such as the story,"Two for a Penny." Fitzgerald's themes are timeless andrelevant to people living at the end of this century. These stories couldhave been written yesterday. If it is cold where you are, read thesestories with a cup of hot cocoa by the fire; if warm, read them on yourporch in the early evening with a pitcher of ice tea or lemonade.

A tremendous value and learning opportunity...
Many American writers learn much about their craft by studying Fitzgerald.As Dorothy Parker said: Fitzgerald could write a bad story, but he couldn't write badly.Many of these stories, although unsuccessful by Fitzgerald's standards, are nonetheless instructive in their weakness: the strong parts stand out so clearly that they afford insights into what makes a given story truly work, and what makes one fall short. And: weak or not, there's beautiful writing in all of them.This collection is a treasure for Fitzgerald fans, and an important addition to a fiction writer's or writing student's bookshelf. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON AND MORE
I picked up this book at my local library to read, since I wanted to read the story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button before seeing the movie starring Brad Pitt. The story is great and worth reading. It is only 20+ pages, but really interesting. I saw the movie yesterday, and highly recommend the movie. The movie has taken some liberties from the book, but still excellent. Movies are always different from the book. The short story book is full of other great stories written by F. Scott Fitzgerald that I enjoyed reading too. I also recommend you read the story The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.

Best Edition of the Fitzgerald Stories
This edition remains the best and most authoritatve edition of the Scott Fitzgerald stories.Bruccoli is a great Fitzgerald scholar and editor, and knows exactly what he is about.Elsewhere (a separate collection) he has collected all the 2nd tier stories of this author made for the popular Saturday Evening Post.Here however are the gems, the downright masterpieces, engaging as the day on which they were written and chosen for their excellence.

Hemingway accurately stated that Scott's talent was delicate as a butterfly's wings, but failed to understand how much of his product would stand up to time.Scott is much stronger than he looks at first glance.I prefer not to think of butterfly wings but those elegantly sleek, sculpted hood ornaments of mid century 20 -- solid polished steel.

That said, a warning is in order that Scott is somewhat of an acquired taste.His Jazz age infatuations can irritate; they already did in his own lifetime.Sometimes, especially in early stories, there is a page of utter faceitiousness, Scott merely showing off and being oh so cute.He is worth putting up with through these insults to the reader, and will benefit the reader's patient plodding on.There is always shrewd insight about human character and that dirty word in our allegedly open society -- class.Yes, Scott in his life and in some of his writings gave in to toadiness to "the rich."But not in the time-certified beauties collected here -- including Babylon Revisited, May Day, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (fairy tale), and the terse masterpiece The Lost Decade, among many others.Scott was a great listener and keen observer, and here delivers the essence of his wild era like a fresh bouquet across decades, special delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
It is the French Riviera in the 1920s. Nicole and Dick Diver are a wealthy, elegant, magnetic couple. A coterie of admirers are drawn to them, none more so than the blooming young starlet Rosemary Hoyt. When Rosemary falls for Dick, the Diver's calculated perfection begins to crack. As dark truths emerge, Fitzgerald shows both the disintegration of a marriage and the failure of idealism. "Tender is the Night" is as sad as it is beautiful.Amazon.com Review
In the wake of World War I, a community of expatriate American writersestablished itself in the salons and cafes of 1920s Paris. They congregatedat 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 eachother. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, were part of this gang ofliterary Young Turks, and it was while living in France that Fitzgeraldbegan writing Tender Is the Night. Begun in 1925, the novel was notactually published until 1934. By then, Fitzgerald was back in the Statesand his marriage was on the rocks, destroyed by Zelda's mental illness andalcoholism. Despite the modernist mandate to keep authors and theircreations strictly segregated, it's difficult not to look forparallels 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, andspiritually--by his union with Nicole. Fitzgerald's fate was not quite sonovelistically neat: after Zelda was diagnosed as a schizophrenic andcommitted, Fitzgerald went to work as a Hollywood screenwriter in 1937 topay her hospital bills. He died three years later--not melodramatically,like poor Jay Gatsby in his swimming pool, but prosaically, while eating achocolate bar and reading a newspaper. Of all his novels, Tender Is theNight 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." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (150)

Highly Recommend
An entertaining and illustrative portrayal of a golden time.This is Fitzgerald at his best!

Masterpiece, but ...
What a difference the edition makes.The re-ordered sections change the entire pacing.The original version, published in 1934 echews the chronological narrative and packs a different punch.Revised in the early 50s (posthumously), the later version is easier to follow, but loses a bit in the build up.

A classic either way - perhaps strong than Gatsby.

Why is Fitzgerald so attracted to such loathsome characters?
Now, I have an admission to make.In my own fiction, I tend to get lost in my own little world, fall in love with my language and my parataxis, and subject my reader to little in-jokes that make me laugh.For example, in a recent work of mine, I included a little part about T. S. Eliot's Wasteland.I referenced, what I though to be heavy handedly, the "game of chess" section, and what I hoped to be more oblique, the "death by water" part. This was done because I was trying to get across the theme of decay.Ok, so it did not work.I can accept that fact.Maybe I have to be more aware of the audience, or something along those lines.The point here is that my own idiosyncrasies perhaps do not translate well.I have the same problem reading Fitzgerald that I suppose that people have when reading my own work.

Alcoholics living out their own malaise in high society do not interest me.I cannot find the characters that Fitzgerald writes about compelling.I find myself disgusted at their self-indulgent and harmful acts.The knowledge that these characters come from real life in the circles that Fitzgerald lived in pushes me over the edge.He obviously had interest in these sorts of people.It cannot be denied that he the prime chronicler of the Jazz Age.Dick, Nicole and their lot are loathsome characters.I first read this book, two years or so ago, and I have to say that I have no desire to revisit it.There are other more pressing things on the schedule, like washing my hair.

Fitzgerald got closer to a sympathetic character when he fleshed out Nick in The Great Gatsby.I think this is because he was portraying someone more like himself.Nick was more of an outsider looking in, or in his case, at the other end of the egg.Fitzgerald is able to create someone who you can sympathize with, because Nick somehow comes across as the most human of the characters that I can remember.Nick possesses a certain sense of longing to belong that seems to be indicative of Fitzgerald himself.He appears as an outsider in this expatriate community, or even the riche community of Gatsby.

The question I have is, "Why is Fitzgerald so attracted to such loathsome characters?"He to seems entranced by broken people in circumstances that would seem to be the embodiment of success on some levels.These characters all have a façade that seems smooth and glassy, only you can see the imperfections the closer you get.Dick, Nicole, Rosemary, Abe, Jay, and Nick all have their failings in the realm of fiction.Fitzgerald has his own, and so does Zelda.

I have no answers for my own question, and as a reader, I cannot get past this isolation that Fitzgerald uses by focusing on such unsympathetic characters.His writings have long been canonized, and are taught all over, but I have a distance with him that is greater than the one I feel when reading Hemingway.

As Mediocre As It Can Get
The first 40 pages is dull. So is the middle 100 pages. The ending is probably one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever read as it ends not with not a bang but a sad whimper in diminuendo as if the author just didn't want to work on it anymore and dashed off a coda.

Fitzgerald's lyricism, in my opinion, is simply overrated. Granted, there are some breathtaking passages (which I took note of), but most of the writing was just dull, dull, dull. He would've benefited tremendously from studying storytelling as well since he makes the middle portion so deadly dull that it made me want to chuck it across the room, and butchers the last portion so badly that it came across as amateurish - choppy, rushed, and consequently ungraceful - which gives credence to his own remark about the book: "I would give anything if I hadn't had to write Part III of Tender Is the Night entirely on stimulant..."

He also makes tons of basic storytelling faux pas, such as redundant attributions (e.g. "I think so, too," he agreed), unnecessary and dull passages that add practically nothing to the story, a whole section (the middle section, more specifically from p.114 to 207) where we follow the main characters wander around without any specific objective except to kill time, and the last part that's haphazardly and painfully put together. The result is a very uneven book with deep pits of absolute boredom.

Didn't really like it

Taken aback.
I was excited to start this book at first.The story started off somewhat slow.Not till I started the middle of the book then it started to get exciting.The ending did not turn out how I expected.Overall, I felt depressed after reading this story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Entertaining
Certainly F Scott. Fitzgerald enjoyed writing this one.Based on a written line he read about life, Fitzgerald certainly demonstrates his talents.I rate this ony three stars because I felt the piece tired out as it progressed, certainly with intention, but also with over-simplification.I do recommend this be read, but as part of a short story compilation.

It's was okay
Interesting short story.Almost felt like an outline for a never written longer book.It is quite different than the movie.

Fantastic work
Fitzgerald produces a fantastic tall-tale that should have been as well known as Paul Bunyon.The novel is not only a fascinating journey through life in reverse, it is a showcase for the sheer breathtaking beauty that is Fitzgerald's writing [one example: "It was a gorgeous evening. A full moondrenched the road to the lustreless colour of platinum, and late-blooming harvest flowers breathed into the motionless air aromas that were like low, half-heard laughter." (Chapter 5)]

However, do not expect this story to be anything like its movie adaptation.For one, this story takes less time to read then watching the movie.Again, the message that each story presents is completely different.

In the original story, Benjamin is born a fully grown, mentally developed 70-year-old and dies an infant, both physically and mentally.

This is the fundamental split between the two versions of the story.The movie depicts an infant with the features and physical ailments of an old man who has the mind of an infant.The Benjamin of the silver screen grows young physically, but old mentally.

But, I am not here to review the movie, so back to the original story.Aside from being a journey through life backwards, the short story tells of how bonds that are meant to be sacred and holy (such as family, parenthood, and marriage) are shattered when abnormalities are thrown in.From his birth, Benjamin is resented for his condition, and the ridicule never lets up.His wife believes him selfish and unwilling to change a condition he cannot control.His own son will not let him address him as such, but rather wants Benjamin to be the son to improve his standing socially.

It is an interesting exploration into the inner workings of human relationships and the beauty of F Scott Fitzgerald's style keeps evan the most critical and unimaginative reader inticed.Do not go through life without reading this story.

Quick enjoyable read that does not spoil the movie
Longer than a short story, shorter than a novella, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was destined to be lost to everyone except the most ardent F. Scott Fitzgerald fans until Hollywood rescued it and turned it into a film.Intrigued by the trailer, I looked for the story to read before seeing the film.(Not to cost amazon any money, but the full text does exist online).

From what I have seen of the trailer, the film and story differ greatly.Even though Benjamin marries in the story, I don't think his wife (a minor character) occupies the same niche as the Cate Blanchett character in the film.

Fitzgerald speaks of Benjamin in almost fairy tale tones.Scenes aren't described and years are condensed to paragraphs or even sentences.Rather thaw showing scenes from Benjamin's military activities or success on the football field (when he was over 50 years old), Fitzgerald simply states them as fact.Had he so desired, this could have been a 200+ page novel.

It's full of the same quirks that have caused the movie to be one of the most anticipated this year.Like when he is 20 (and looks 50), Fitzgerald tells us he is often mistaken for his father, and when he is 50 (and looks 20), he is often mistaken for his son.Nearly every aspect of his life is told with such mirror bookends, like how his May-December marriage (his wife was 20 and attracted to a man who looked 50)ended up becoming a December-May romance that caused the townsfolk to wonder what a young man was doing with such an old lady.

The story is tricky, poignant and sad,It was impossible to not see Brad Pitt in the role and impossible to not think about how they are going to show him as 80 years old or (sorry Brad) as a teenager.I don't think reading this spoiled anything about the movie for me.If anything, it only makes me want to see it even more.

Phenominal
It was breath taking, there was an emotional connection that made you keep reading until the last page.It's a beautiful story that can make you giggle or cry, but it's worth every last tear. ... Read more

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copyright 1953.Very historic book. ... Read more

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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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

The Love of the Last Tycoon was left incomplete at Fitzgerald's death in 1940; a great Hollywood tale
The Love of the Last Tycoon was the final and incomplete novel from the pen of F. Scott Fitzgerald. (1896-1940). Scott died at the home of Sheila Graham the English gossip columnist with whom he was living. His wife Zelda was in a North Carolina mental institution while he was fighting his own demons of alcoholism and a bad heart.
The Love of the Last Tycoon tells the truncated tale of Monroe Stahr (get it-STAR!). Stahr is the head of production of films at a major studio. Think boy wonder of MGM Irving Jerome Thalberg. Thalberg and his wife Norma Shearer knew Fitzgerald. He had worked for less than a year as a scriptwriter at MGM. He was fired and at the time of his death was hawking scripts to studios and supporting himself by writing for periodicals such as The Saturday Evening Post, Liberty and Colliers. He was poor; his literary reputation in shards.
The short fragment of the novel we have (about 130 pages) is told in narration by Cacelia Brady the rich Bennington educated daughter of the unscrupulous movie mogul Pat Brady (based on Louis B. Mayer). Brady is a womanizer who is crudely and ruthlessly seeking to grasp the reigns of studio power by acing out Stahr for control.
Stahr is a workaholic and driven soul dying of a weak heart. He is the widower of a movie star. Stahr becomes romantically involved with a young English sophisticate named Kathleen. She ditches him for her fiancee. Stahr finds comforts in the arms of his secret admirer whose affections become overt-young Cacelia. As the novel fragment ends they are on the way to a party at the Barrrymore home.
This would have been one of Fitgerald's best books if he had lived to revised the narration and tie together loose ends. As it stands this work is a glimpse through the Hollywood keyhole of the golden studio era. A well written and spun tole of greed, sex and power in the California sun.

incomplete
Gatsby is one of my favorite books, and I enjoy reading Fitzgerald, but I just couldn't get into The Love of the Last Tycoon. I understand Fitzgerald died while writing this book, and it is a shame because it had much potential, but as it stands it is incomplete and quite frankly, it reads like a rough draft. Still, a good edition for Fitzgerald scholars. And it truly is a shame that he didn't get to finish it or even polish it up a bit.

All the Hollywood hypocrites
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.Awriter 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
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
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 theman 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.

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Product Description
This Halcyon Classics eBook contains twenty-one novels and short stories by Roaring Twenties author F. Scott Fitzgerald, including 'The Beautiful and the Damned,' 'This Side of Paradise,' and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.'Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.


Novels:

This Side of Paradise
The Beautiful and the Damned


Short Stories:

The Jelly-Bean
The Camel's Back
May Day
Porcelain and Pink
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Tarquin of Cheapside
Oh Russet Witch!
The Lees of Happiness
Mr. Icky
Jemina
The Offshore Pirate
The Ice Palace
Head and Shoulders
The Cut-Glass Bowl
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Benediction
Dalyrimple Goes Wrong
The Four Fists
... Read more

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Light red cloth cover with black lettering. Includes novels The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, as well as short stories; Alsolution, The Baby Party, The Rich Boy, May Day, The Cut-Glass Bowl, The Offshore Pirate, The Freshest Boy, Crazy Sunday, Babylon Revisited. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

If you are a Fitzgerald, or Scott - Zelda aficionado, you will love this
If like me you can't get enough of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, their tumultuous and tragic story, and a snapshot of what I consider one of the most fascinating times in history for culture and the arts, the early twentieth century up to World War II, this book is a must-have.

It's mostly pictures, clippings, Zelda's art, wires and correspondence, and other personal memorabilia, but a wonderful companion after you read some of his work, or any of their biographies.

so amazing!
i am a huge fan of both f. scott and zelda fitzgerald so it was great to get this glimpse into their personal lives.because their daughter was involved with this book, that gives it even more authenticity and it's like we're being given permission by scottie herself to look at her family's scrapbooks.a very surreal experience!

Stunning collection of Fitzgerald ephemera
My girlfriend, a fellow Fitz enthusiast, bought me this for my birthday and it ranks among the best gifts I've ever received.This is an amazing and exhaustively comprehensive scrapbook of the lives of the Fitzgeralds.If you're a fan and come away from this without wanting to get your hands on every single thing those two touched...there's something very, very wrong with you.;)Beautiful book.

Spectacular Book for F. Scott Fitzgerald Enthusiasts!!
If you are a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, this book is an absolute must-have! While I own just about everything that is written by or about Fitzgerald, this is perhaps my favorite book to peruse. It is compiled just like a personal scrapbook and is replete with photos of the Fitzgeralds as well as articles (by and about Fitzgerald)written in the 20s and 30s. Much of this content you will not find elsewhere, at least not in such abundance. Bruccoli, America's leading Fitzgerald scholar (as well as Fitz's own daughter, Scotty) did a spectacular job of putting this together. The scrapbook format gives the book an intimate nature and the set up is extremely attractive. Best of all, at just around $20, it is an absolute steal for the price! If you love Fitzgerald, don't go without this collection! It would make a splendid addition to any high school classroom that teaches Fitzgerald or any personal library that celebrates true literary classics. ... Read more

Product Description

F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel brilliantly satirizes a glamorous and doomed marriage in the decadent high society of New York City in the 1920s. 

Inspired in part by Fitzgerald's own tumultuous union with his wife, Zelda, The Beautiful and Damned chronicles the downfall of would-be Jazz Age aristocrats Anthony and Gloria Patch. The novel introduces us to the pleasure-seeking Anthony and his beautiful, vain, and shallow golden girl just after their marriage, when—believing a large inheritance to be imminent—they begin living well beyond their means. When the expected windfall is withheld, their lives are consumed by the pursuit of wealth and their alliance begins to disintegrate. Haunting and keenly observed, The Beautiful and Damned provides a vivid portrait of a lost world and the rootless and materialistic generation that inhabited it.

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