The Cambridge Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald

by Kirk Curnutt

• ISBN13: 9780521676007
• ISBN10: 0521676002
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780511271526
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-19
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

Although F. Scott Fitzgerald remains one of the most recognizable literary figures of the twentieth century, his legendary life - including his tempestuous romance with his wife and muse Zelda - continues to overshadow his art. However glamorous his image as the poet laureate of the 1920s, he was first and foremost a great writer with a gift for fluid, elegant prose. This introduction reminds readers why Fitzgerald deserves his preeminent place in literary history. It discusses not only his best-known works, The Great Gatsby (1925) and Tender Is the Night (1934), but the full scope of his output, including his other novels and his short stories. This book introduces new readers and students of Fitzgerald to his trademark themes, his memorable characters, his significant plots, the literary modes and genres from which he borrowed, and his inimitable style.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Life	p. 12
Childhood and literary apprenticeship (1896-1917)	p. 13
Zelda and early success (1918-1924)	p. 16
Artistic maturity and personal decline (1925-1934)	p. 21
The crack-up and the comeback (1935-1940)	p. 24
Cultural context	p. 28
My generation: youth culture and the politics of aging	p. 29
The theater of being: personality and performative identity	p. 31
The marketplace of self-making: personal style and consumerism	p. 34
Flaunting recreations: conspicuous leisure and the culture of indulgence	p. 36
Works	p. 39
Composition process	p. 40
Major themes	p. 53
Major characters	p. 69
Major plots and motifs	p. 85
Mode and genre	p. 97
Style and point of view	p. 107
Critical reception	p. 112
Contemporary reviewers	p. 112
The Fitzgerald revival	p. 118
Modern Fitzgerald studies	p. 121
Notes	p. 127
Guide to further reading	p. 136
Index	p. 141
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