F. Scott Fitzgerald was a master of the short story and the novel, creating unforgettable characters and narratives that explored themes of lost dreams and the moral consequences of wealth. Throughout his career, he published 164 stories in popular magazines, serving both as a source of income and as a workshop for his novels. Despite uneven quality, his stories and novels were interdependent, each enhancing the understanding of the other.

Fitzgerald's Career in Magazine Fiction

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s professional career was largely sustained by his prolific work in magazine fiction. Over a span of twenty years, he published 164 stories, most of which found their way into hardcover editions. His creative journey is marked by three distinct periods: the early years (1919-1924), the middle period (1925-1933), and the final years (1934-1940).

During the initial phase, Fitzgerald was exploring various markets, publishing in notable periodicals including The Saturday Evening Post, Metropolitan, and others. He also published novels like This Side of Paradise and collections such as Flappers and Philosophers. The middle period dovetailed with his most prominent work, The Great Gatsby, and saw 47 of his 58 stories being published in the Saturday Evening Post. In his last years, his audience shifted towards Esquire, a magazine that catered to a different, smaller readership, where he published 28 of his final 44 stories.

Artistic and Popular Success

Fitzgerald's peak, both artistically and popularly, coincided with his middle period. During this time, his stories were in high demand, with the Saturday Evening Post paying him handsomely even during the Great Depression. Works such as Babylon Revisited stand out as exemplary, combining commercial success with artistic excellence. However, his later stories for Esquire did not maintain the high standards of his earlier works, reflecting a period of personal and professional decline.

The Workshop Approach to Short Stories

A significant aspect of Fitzgerald's short stories was their function as a testing ground for his novels. For instance, “Winter Dreams” is often seen as a precursor to The Great Gatsby, sharing thematic and character parallels. Fitzgerald used his magazine fiction to explore themes such as the American Dream, disillusionment, and the passage of time, all of which would be more fully developed in his longer works.

“The Rich Boy” illustrates this workshop approach by experimenting with themes that would later surface in Tender Is the Night. Through characters such as Anson Hunter, Fitzgerald explored the idea of lost youth and the complexity of human relationships, foreshadowing the more mature narrative style he would employ in his novels.

Major Novels and Their Themes

This Side of Paradise

This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald’s debut novel, encapsulates the spirit of the Jazz Age, blending romanticism with realism. The novel follows Amory Blaine's journey from a pampered childhood to a self-aware adulthood. It serves as a bildungsroman, capturing the essence of a generation characterized by disillusionment and rebellion against traditional values.

The Beautiful and Damned

The Beautiful and Damned chronicles the decline of the young couple, Anthony and Gloria Patch, whose lives unravel in anticipation of an inheritance. The novel explores themes of moral and physical decay, set against a backdrop of the Jazz Age’s excesses. It reflects Fitzgerald's own experiences and fears about the corrosive effects of wealth and idleness.

The Great Gatsby

Considered Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby delves into the American Dream and its associated illusions. Through the tragic figure of Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald examines the conflict between aspiration and reality. The narrative, delivered through the eyes of Nick Carraway, combines lyrical prose with incisive social commentary, creating...