1. F. Scott Fitzgerald 1896-1940 The Great Gatsby

2. Early Life: Born in St. Paul, Minnesota Distant relative of Francis Scott Key His father was a business failure His mother was the daughter of rich Irish immigrants Attended Catholic schools where he excelled in writing, but failed at sports Attended Princeton and was active in drama and writing, but flunked out eventually Had his first “alcoholic” episode in college

3. Romance and Fame: Enlisted when WWI broke out Went to officers’ training in Alabama; the war ended before he could be sent overseas Met and became engaged to Zelda Sayre, a wealthy southern belle, the daughter of a state supreme court judge Zelda broke the engagement when she learned that Scott was actually poor Scott returned to St. Paul and shut himself in his room, writing This Side of Paradise

4. This Side of Paradise An immediate bestselling novel about “the Roaring Twenties,” which Scott named “the Jazz Age” Part of the novel’s popularity stemmed from its somewhat “risque” content Zelda agreed to marry Scott

5. Scott’s Career: Writing brought fame and fortune Scott’s short stories sold for about $4000 each during a time when a new car was $600, and most teachers earned $1200 a year. ($4000 in the 1920s had the buying power of $40,000 today.) He and Zelda lived glamorous, fast-paced lives They had one daughter, Scottie Marriage began to crumble with their wild drinking and Zelda’s bouts with insanity

6. Major Works: This Side of Paradise Tender is the Night The Beautiful and Damned The Great Gatsby (his masterpiece) The Last Tycoon Numerous short stories for The Saturday Evening Post

7. Final Years: Scott continued to drink and smoke heavily His stories about “the roaring twenties” were not as popular He became a screenwriter in Hollywood, but found working there difficult He had to earn large sums of money to pay for Scottie’s private schooling and for Zelda’s hospitalization for mental illness

8. Sheila Graham: Scott met the beautiful writer, Sheila Graham He moved in with her, but refused to divorce Zelda, and always proclaimed his love for Zelda While working on The Last Tycoon, he suffered a major heart attack and died at age forty-four. Zelda died in 1948 in a fire that swept through the insane asylum where she was being treated

9. Recurrent Themes: Ambitious characters seek the American Dream A young man desires a beautiful woman who seems too good for him Wealth represents coldness and indifference Money is a corrupting force The Midwest is pure and good; the East is corrupted and bad

10. The Great Gatsby Critics describe Nick Carraway as the “perfect” narrator All major characters in the novel reveal their secrets to Nick, who reveals them to the reader The novel is faintly autobiographical with its storyline of a poor man stopping at nothing to win the heart of a rich girl

11. F. Scott Fitzgerald Images: The most famous profile among American writers:

12. Jay Gatsby: Brad Pitt bears a remarkable resemblance to the young Robert Redford, who played Jay Gatsby in the 1970’s film:

13. The Setting for The Great Gatsby: East Egg, the “Valley of Ashes,” and West Egg:

14. Famous Quotations: “All good writing is like swimming underwater holding your breath.” “Putting an exclamation point at the end of your own sentence is like laughing at your own joke.”