Few writers are as inextricably linked to a particular era as F. Scott Fitzgerald is to the 1920s. At just twenty-three, Fitzgerald found himself at the forefront of a generation defined by rebellion and excess. His novel, This Side of Paradise, published in March 1920, catapulted him to fame almost overnight, and by April, he had married Zelda Sayre, a Southern belle known for her beauty and strong will. Together, they embodied the Roaring Twenties' spirit, living a life as tumultuous as it was glamorous. These years saw Fitzgerald's literary earnings soar from a modest $800 in 1919 to a remarkable $18,000 in 1920. The price for his stories skyrocketed from $30 to $1,000, solidifying his status as the Jazz Age's foremost literary voice and one of the best-paid magazine writers of his time.

As the decade progressed, Fitzgerald penned his magnum opus, The Great Gatsby, a novel that would come to define not only his career but also the essence of the era he portrayed. However, as Fitzgerald approached the end of his twenties, the United States moved into the devastating grips of the Great Depression following the 1929 stock market crash. In a tragic parallel, Fitzgerald's personal life began to unravel, mirroring the nation's economic woes.

By 1936, his life had taken a drastic downturn, and he had only four years left to live. During this period, Fitzgerald turned inward, grappling with a profound crisis of self-confidence and self-esteem, a theme poignantly explored in his work The Crack-Up. This collection of essays and reflections not only showcases some of Fitzgerald’s finest writing but also serves as a powerful cultural artifact, reflecting the disillusionment of the American Dream akin to that of his iconic character, Jay Gatsby.

In 1937, seeking a new direction, Fitzgerald accepted a contract as a screenwriter in Hollywood, joining countless others who looked to the film industry as an escape from reality. The Crack-Up thus stands as both a literary achievement and a historical document, capturing the zeitgeist of an era and the personal struggles of a man who once represented its brightest hopes.