Critical Context
Coming only two years after Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920), The Beautiful and Damned was a much more literary and thought-out book. Yet although it was in most respects a superior and more controlled performance, it was far short of the advance in craftsmanship and in maturity of perception that Fitzgerald would demonstrate only three years later in The Great Gatsby (1925). Although The Beautiful and Damned was not as popular with the readers or with the critics as was Fitzgerald’s first novel, the novelty of its subject matter helped its sales and consolidated his position as the spokesman of the Jazz Age.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. A short but important collection of critical essays, this book provides an introductory overview of Fitzgerald scholarship, plus readings from a variety of perspectives on his fiction.
Bruccoli, Matthew J., ed. New Essays on “The Great Gatsby.” Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1985. This short but important collection includes an introductory overview of scholarship, plus interpretive essays on Fitzgerald’s best-known novel.
Bruccoli, Matthew J. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. In this outstanding biography, a major Fitzgerald scholar argues that Fitzgerald’s divided spirit, not his lifestyle, distracted him from writing. Claims that Fitzgerald both loved and hated the privileged class that was the subject of his fiction.
Eble, Kenneth. F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Twayne, 1963. A clearly written critical biography, this book traces Fitzgerald’s development from youth through a “Final Assessment,” which surveys scholarship on his texts.
Hook, Andrew. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Literary Life. New York: St. Martin’s, 2002. Part of the Literary Lives series. Concise rather than thorough, but with some interesting details.
Kuehl, John. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Part 1 discusses Fitzgerald’s major stories and story collections; part 2 studies his critical opinions; part 3 includes selections from Fitzgerald critics. Includes chronology and bibliography.
Lee, A. Robert, ed. Scott Fitzgerald: The Promises of Life. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989. Includes essays on Fitzgerald’s major novels, his Saturday Evening Post stories, his treatment of women characters, and his understanding of ethics and history.
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