"Misunderstanding has been a part of The Great Gatsby's story from the very start. Grumbling to his friend Edmund Wilson shortly after the novel was published in April 1925, Fitzgerald declared that "of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about". Fellow writers like Edith Wharton admired it plenty, but as the critic Maureen Corrigan relates in her book So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, popular reviewers read it as crime fiction, and were decidedly underwhelmed by it at that. Fitzgerald's Latest A Dud, ran a headline in the New York World. The novel achieved only so-so sales, and by the time of the author's death in 1940, copies of a very modest second print run had long since been remaindered.
Gatsby's luck began to change when it was selected as a giveaway by the US military. With World War Two drawing to a close, almost 155,000 copies were distributed in a special Armed Services Edition, creating a new readership overnight. As the 1950s dawned, the flourishing of the American Dream quickened the novel's topicality, and by the 1960s, it was enshrined as a set text. It's since become such a potent force in pop culture that even those who've never read it feel as if they have, helped along, of course, by Hollywood."
Read the whole article here: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210209-the-worlds-most-misunderstood-novel
Interested in reading The Great Gatsby, or some of the books about or inspired by this great American novel and writer? Try one of these!
young adult
Tell Me My Name by Amy Reed
For fans of The Grace Year and We Were Liars comes a mesmerizing, can't-put-it-down psychological thriller—a gender-flipped YA Great Gatsby that will linger long after the final line.
adult nonfiction
On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books by Karen Prior
Prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life.
Literary Yarns: Crochet Projects Inspired by Classic Books by Cindy Wang
Learn how
to make adorable crochet dolls of your favorite literary characters, including
Anne of Green Gables, Elizabeth Bennet, and Sherlock Holmes!
F. Scott Fitzgerald on Writing
A
collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s remarks on his craft, taken from his works
and letters to friends and colleagues—an essential trove of advice for aspiring
writers.
Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel by Bob Batchelor
A cultural
historian, Batchelor explains why and how the novel has become part of the
fiber of the American ethos and an important tool in helping readers to better
comprehend their lives and the broader world around them.
So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan
Offering a
fresh perspective on what makes Gatsby great - and utterly unusual - So We
Read On takes us into archives, high school classrooms, and even out onto
the Long Island Sound to explore the novel's hidden depths.
Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald
Through
his alcoholism and her mental illness, his career lows and her institutional
confinement, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for
over 22 years. Now, for the first time, we have the story of their love in the
couple's own letters.
The Gatsby Affair: Scott, Zelda, and the Betrayal that Shaped an American Classic by Kendall Taylor
Both a
literary study and a probing look at an iconic couple's psychological makeup, The
Gatsby Affair offers listeners a bold interpretation of how one of
America's greatest novels was influenced.
Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell
Fitzgerald
set his novel in 1922, and Careless People carefully reconstructs the
crucial months during which Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald returned to New York in
the autumn of 1922 - the parties, the drunken weekends at Great Neck, Long
Island, the drives back into the city to the jazz clubs and speakeasies, the
casual intersection of high society and organized crime, and the growth of
celebrity culture of which the Fitzgeralds themselves were the epitome.
fiction
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum
opus, exploring themes of decadence, idealism, social stigmas, patriarchal
norms, and the deleterious effects of unencumbered wealth in capitalistic
society, set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor
Bestselling author Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic in this atmospheric historical novel told in three women’s alternating voices.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
With brilliant insight and imagination, Fowler brings us
Zelda's irresistible story as she herself might have told it.
Beautiful Fools by R. Clifton Spargo
Iin 1939, Scott is living in Hollywood, a virulent alcoholic and deeply in debt. Despite his relationship with gossip columnist Sheila Graham, he remains fiercely loyal to Zelda. In an attempt to fuse together their fractured marriage, Scott arranges a trip to Cuba. After a disastrous first night in Havana, the couple runs off to a beach resort outside the city.
Montauk by Nicola Harrison
Montauk captures the glamour and extravagance of a
summer by the sea with the story of a woman torn between the life she chose and
the life she desires.
Another Side of Paradise by Sally Koslow
Working from diaries and other primary sources from the
time, Sally Koslow revisits a scandalous love affair in this compelling historical
novel saturated with the color, glitter, magic, and passion of 1930s Hollywood
and London.
The Great Mann by Kyra Lurie
In this poignant retelling of The Great Gatsby, set
amongst L.A.’s Black elite, a young veteran finds his way post-war, pulled into
a new world of tantalizing possibilities—and explosive tensions.
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, Ernest
Hemingway and Hadley Richardson set sail for Paris, where they become the
golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that
includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Though
deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and
fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris.
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art - as
well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby - Killing Commendatore is
a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.
Nick by Michael F. Smith
A critically acclaimed novelist pulls Nick Carraway out of
the shadows and into the spotlight in this "masterful" look into his
life before Gatsby (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author)
Daisy by Libby Sternberg
While simultaneously remaining true to the original and
adding new information, Sternberg weaves Daisy's perspective and Nick
Carraway's account together, correcting what Daisy knows is inaccurate from her
cousin's novel.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
From the number one New York Times best-selling
author, this is a
“sharply stylish” (Boston Globe) book about a young woman in post-Depression
era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society.
A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams
Williams brings
the Roaring '20s brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively
listenable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York society, brimming
with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.
The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler
Deftly subverting romantic notions about money, power, and
freedom that still stand today, The Gatsby Gambit is a sparkling
homage to, and reinvention of, a world American readers have lionized for
generations.
Mansion Beach by Meg Moore
A sparkling, escapist novel following a young woman entwined
in the opulent lives of her neighbors, set against a backdrop of scandal,
secrets, and a not-so-subtle love triangle.
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Nghi Vo’s debut novel reinvents
a classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic,
mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.
film
There are two Great Gatsby films. Robert Redford starred in the 1974 version and Leonardo DiCaprio headlined the 2013 adaptation.
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