"[322] Gertrude Stein posited that Fitzgerald had surpassed contemporary writers such as Hemingway due to his masterful ability to write in natural sentences. Half the time he thought of himself as the heir of his fathers tradition, which included the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key, after whom he was named, and half the time as straight 1850 potato-famine Irish. As a result he had typically ambivalent American feelings about American life, which seemed to him at once vulgar and dazzlingly promising. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Rich Boy" (1926)[356], A recurrent theme in F. Scott Fitzgerald's fiction is the psychic and moral gulf between the average American and wealthy elites. [421] Fitzgerald's relationships with Sheilah Graham and Frances Kroll Ring respectively served as the basis for the films Beloved Infidel (1959) and Last Call (2002). [97], Fitzgerald's ephemeral happiness mirrored the societal giddiness of the Jazz Age, a term which he popularized in his essays and stories. You've read my books. [28], Despite the great distance separating them, Fitzgerald still attempted to pursue Ginevra, and he traveled across the country to visit her family's Lake Forest estate. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Agea term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. [245] The realization that he was largely forgotten as an author further depressed him. Here was a new generation, shouting the old cries, learning the old creeds, through a revery of long days and nights; destined finally to go out into that dirty gray turmoil to follow love and pride; a new generation dedicated more than the last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success; grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken. Throughout the novel, readers can see evidence of the "roaring twenties.". F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, 1920's This Side of Paradise, was an instant hit and bestseller. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in full Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, (born September 24, 1896, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.died December 21, 1940, Hollywood, California), American short-story writer and novelist famous for his depictions of the Jazz Age (the 1920s), his most brilliant novel being The Great Gatsby (1925). [305], For his sophomore effort, Fitzgerald discarded the trappings of collegiate bildungsromans and crafted an "ironical-pessimistic" [sic] novel in the style of Thomas Hardy's oeuvre. "Nobody was interested in politics," Fitzgerald declared of this particular generation,[392] and, as "it was characteristic of the Jazz Age that it had no interest in politics at all",[393] Fitzgerald's fiction reflected the contemporary zeitgeist's perfunctory cynicism and aversion to political crusades in the wake of Prohibition. Documents tell more about Fitzgerald's first love News from PRINCETON UNIVERSITY Office of Communications 22 Chambers St. Princeton, New Jersey 08542 Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301 For immediate release: September 5, 2003 Contact: Patricia Allen, (609) 258-6108, pallen@princeton.edu He had not yet completed his fifth novel, The Last Tycoon. [22][23] The couple began a romantic relationship spanning several years. ELALF40SH. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [188][189] The couple traveled to Switzerland, where she underwent treatment at a clinic. [74] He decided to make one last attempt to become a novelist and to stake everything on the success or failure of a book. [119] Fitzgerald wished to halt the show and disavow the production. . He had written all but two of the stories before 1920. They were impetuous, they were known to drink too much, and they were prone to bouts of serious depression and self-destructive behavior, but no one could ever accuse them of frugality. [60] Several of Fitzgerald's friends opposed the match, as they deemed Zelda ill-suited for him. [371] His wealthier neighbors viewed the young author and his family to be lower-class, and his classmates at affluent institutions such as Newman and Princeton regarded him as a parvenu. [304] Having read and digested these criticisms of his debut novel, Fitzgerald sought to improve upon the form and construction of his prose in his next work and to venture into a new genre of fiction altogether. Still aspiring to a lucrative career in literature, he wrote several short stories and satires in his spare time. F. Scott Fitzgerald declared to himself: "Great art is the contempt of a great man for small art" ( N 162). in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: F. Scott FITZGERALD (1896), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. Elizabeth Squire , William Sayre, ? [69] While Prohibition-era New York City was experiencing the burgeoning Jazz Age, Fitzgerald felt defeated and rudderless: two women had rejected him in succession; he detested his advertising job; his stories failed to sell; he could not afford new clothes, and his future seemed bleak. [171] Soon after, Zelda threw herself down a flight of marble stairs at a party because Fitzgerald, engrossed in talking to Isadora Duncan, ignored her. Owing to a failed romantic relationship with Chicago socialite Ginevra King, he dropped out in 1917 to join the United States Army during World War I. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Fitzgerald is the quintessential American writer. F. [408] Richard Yates, a writer often compared to Fitzgerald, hailed The Great Gatsby as showcasing Fitzgerald's miraculous talent and triumphal literary technique. Died on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. [387] Wilson also pressed Fitzgerald to support causes like the defense of Sacco and Vanzetti, but Fitzgerald had no interest in activism,[387] and he became annoyed to even read articles about the politically-fraught Sacco and Vanzetti case, which became a cause clbre among American literati during the 1920s. Zelda broke their engagement, and, after an epic drunk, Fitzgerald retired to St. Paul, Minnesota, to rewrite for the second time a novel he had begun at Princeton. [95] After several weeks, the hotel asked them to leave for disturbing other guests. [111] On October 26, 1921, Zelda gave birth to their daughter and only child Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald. When I was little I got to see a huge spread of them," she notes. [61] Likewise, Zelda's Episcopalian family was wary of Scott because of his Catholic background, precarious finances, and excessive drinking. [149] Fitzgerald declined a $10,000 offer for the serial rights, as it would delay the book's publication. Then he lost Ginevra and flunked out of Princeton. This is Fitzgeralds final attempt to create his dream of the promises of American life and of the kind of man who could realize them. 00:12. He became a leading figure in the socially important Triangle Club, a dramatic society, and was elected to one of the leading clubs of the university. [193] In his private diary, Mencken noted Zelda "went insane in Paris a year or so ago, and is still plainly more or less off her base. I was able to drink and enjoy it. [169] A more serious rift soon occurred when Zelda belittled Fitzgerald with homophobic slurs and accused him of engaging in a homosexual relationship with Hemingway. He moved in the major artistic circles of his day but failed to garner widespread critical acclaim until after his death at the age of 44. The Life of Frances Scott Fitzgerald Lanahan Smith. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940, at 44. Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works amid the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. [89] At the time of their wedding, Fitzgerald claimed neither he nor Zelda still loved each other,[87][90] and the early years of their marriage were more akin to a friendship.[88][91]. Mark Twain. [394], Throughout his literary career, Fitzgerald often drew upon the private correspondence, diary entries, and life experiences of other persons to use in his fiction. [287], More so than most contemporary writers of his era, F. Scott Fitzgerald's authorial voice evolved and matured over time,[288] and his each successive novel represented a discernible progression in literary quality. The novel's plot follows a young artist and his wife who become dissipated and bankrupt while partying in New York City. For other people with these names, see, F. Scott Fitzgerald circa 1917 and Chicago socialite. "[359] Consequently, he became a vocal critic of America's leisure class and his works satirized their lives. Eliot, he was considered a member of the "Lost Generation," the 1920s expatriate community in post-war Paris.In 1925, Fitzgerald published his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, which is still widely read today. [142] Soon after, Zelda overdosed on sleeping pills. "[98], As Fitzgerald was one of the most celebrated novelists during the Jazz Age, many admirers sought his acquaintanceship. [335], Although a dazzling extemporizer, Fitzgerald's short stories were criticized for lacking both thematic coherence and quality. [159] Most notable among them was a relatively unknown Ernest Hemingway, whom Fitzgerald first met in May 1925 and grew to admire. [298] This atonal blend of different fictive elements prompted cultural elites to fte the young Fitzgerald as a literary trailblazer whose work modernized a staid literature that had lagged "as far behind modern habits as behind modern history. When the Stock Market crashed in the autumn of that year, the gaiety was gone. [236] "She was the first girl I ever loved and I have faithfully avoided seeing her up to this moment to keep the illusion perfect," Fitzgerald informed his daughter Scottie, shortly before the planned meeting. [219] Another biographer, Arthur Mizener, notes Fitzgerald had a mild attack of TB in 1919 and conclusively had a tubercular hemorrhage in 1929. After Edward's business failed, he was employed by Proctor and Gamble, and the family transferred to Buffalo . [372][373] His later life as an expatriate in Europe and as a writer in Hollywood reinforced this lifelong sense of being an outsider. [337], Commenting upon this tendency in Fitzgerald's short stories, Dos Passos remarked that "everybody who has put pen to paper during the last twenty years has been daily plagued by the difficulty of deciding whether he's to do 'good' writing that will satisfy his conscience or 'cheap' writing that will satisfy his pocketbook. A great deal of Fitzgerald's own life was made a hell by this sort of schizophrenia."[338]. [270] The few critics who were familiar with his work regarded him as a failed alcoholicthe embodiment of Jazz Age decadence. [266] When Zelda died in a fire at the Highland Hospital in 1948, she was buried next to him in Rockville Cemetery. [238][422] Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda have appeared as characters in the films Midnight in Paris (2011) and Genius (2016). [118] Although he hoped The Vegetable would inaugurate a lucrative career as a playwright, the play's November 1923 premiere was an unmitigated disaster. [349] They decried his use of modern "alien slang" and claimed his depiction of young people engaged in drunken sprees and premarital sex to be wholly fabricated. [332], From 1920 until his death, Fitzgerald published nearly four pieces per year in the magazine and, in 1931 alone, he earned nearly $40,000 (equivalent to $712,735 in 2021) by churning out seventeen short stories in quick succession. [36] Fitzgerald purportedly chafed under Eisenhower's authority and disliked him intensely. 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