Today is the 111th birthday of one the true masters of the English language, F. Scott Fitzgerald. His short stories about the jazz age are, to me, as close as one can get to an actual time machine, and the skill he showed while crafting his first novel at age 24, This Side of Paradise, is astounding. And as far as I’m concerned, The Great Gatsby has only to compete with Huckleberry Finn as The Great American Novel. His real life was every bit as exciting and heartbreaking as the lives of the characters in his books. Here’s some good places to go to read and learn more about this great writer:
–Here’s a brief biography of F. Scott.
-One of his wonderful short stories, The Offshore Pirate.
–A fascinating look at F. Scott’s wife, Zelda, who was the first lady of the Jazz Age, but who slipped slowly into insanity as she got older, and died in a mental institution.
–An interesting look at the rivalry that formed between Fitzgerald and Hemingway, as Hemingway became jealous of Fitzgerald’s success, and blasted him repeatedly in print.
–A recent review of The Great Gatsby by Washington Post book critic Jonathon Yardley.