The Lost Decade And Other Stories

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

These later short stories of Scott Fitzgerald all reflect the insincerities, greedy ambitions and broken dreams of life during the Jazz Age.

Collected in this volume are pieces that span the last years of Fitzgerald's life, when he knew that the romantic promise of the early Twenties had faded forever. But the billiance of his writing remains undimmed, and with such stories at The Bridal Party, Crazy Sunday and The Lost Decade he shows himself once more to be the master of his genre and the unchallenged spokesman of his times.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

Paperback

Published January 1, 1974

About the author

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age, a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York state. He attended Princeton University where he befriended future literary critic Edmund Wilson. 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. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante who belonged to Montgomery's exclusive country-club set. Although she initially rejected Fitzgerald's marriage proposal due to his lack of financial prospects, Zelda agreed to marry him after he published the commercially successful This Side of Paradise (1920). The novel became a cultural sensation and cemented his reputation as one of the eminent writers of the decade.
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. To maintain his affluent lifestyle, he wrote numerous stories for popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway. His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), received generally favorable reviews but was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 23,000 copies in its first year. Despite its lackluster debut, The Great Gatsby is now hailed by some literary critics as the "Great American Novel". Following the deterioration of his wife's mental health and her placement in a mental institute for schizophrenia, Fitzgerald completed his final novel, Tender Is the Night (1934).
Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works during the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. While living in Hollywood, he cohabited with columnist Sheilah Graham, his final companion before his death. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940, at 44. His friend Edmund Wilson edited and published an unfinished fifth novel, The Last Tycoon (1941), after Fitzgerald's death. In 1993, a new edition was published as The Love of the Last Tycoon, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli.

Reviews

[Tim]

This is a collection of late stories, all written when Fitzgerald was working in Hollywood. Not surprisingly, they all except one centre on the film industry. As with most short story collections the quality tends to diminish towards the end. The first three longish stories were all excellent. Even though by now a drunkard, he could still write inspired beautiful prose, as I'm discovering while reading The Last Tycoon. His plots however are less inspired. Disillusionment is a theme, reality failing the romantic imagination, and his idea that vitality is finite and has to be spent wisely, something he himself failed spectacularly to do in his personal life. Probably this is a book exclusively for die-hard Fitzgerald fans. 3.5 stars.

[Marieke]

Fitzgerald's personality really shines through in these stories. The privileged, selfish, fairly misogynistic side, I mean.

[Esme]

3.5/4 ⭐️ - it’s Fitzgerald so obviously I loved it (American literature supremacy always!!)

When reading short stories there should be (in my opinion) just a small moment of resolution, not a cathartic expulsion, but just a moment of “oh”- that’s the only way I can describe the best kind of short stories (and why I’m so obsessed with Chekhov). Fitzgerald in this selection does achieve that in 4 of these 7 stories- others I feel are tied up too quickly and too neatly!

It’s a really sad experience reading these stories that were all written towards the end of his life, and that’s just heightened by constant mentions of alcoholism throughout. The stories are presented chronologically and the deterioration of the writer’s spirit can be felt. It’s hard to say how much of this is disillusionment with the culture and the end of the jazz age, and how much of it is a reflection of Fitzgerald’s own state of mind (likely a mix of both).

Story by story breakdown:


Basil: The Freshest Boy — 5⭐️

Is there a more endearing character than little Basil Lee? I doubt it!!! This made me want to sob at points, Basil is relatable but also irritating (just as you would expect from a lonely 15 year old boy)! This is such a beautifully hopeful story as well, I will always be thinking about Basil’s “numberless new starts” and his slow realisation that even the most perfect people are suffering in their own ways.

Josephine: A Woman with a Past — 2⭐️

This to me was the weakest of all 7 stories- I do see and understand the criticism that Fitzgerald cannot write women characters. Although, I think many of his other female characters are more developed than Josephine (maybe it’s because he can’t write from her perspective?) I don’t have much to say about this- it’s just a girl who is slut-shamed and falls for the most popular boy at Yale despite her promiscuous past. Josephine’s attraction to Dudley seems quite misogynistic (he’d make a good husband, he’s dependable, he could make me more sensible etc. etc. etc.) Although I do think Fitzgerald is incredible at writing about how embarrassment and shame feels.

Two Wrongs — 4.5 ⭐️

One of my faves! I love the final act of this story and it gave me the “oh” feeling I wanted! There is something so relatable and human about the conundrum of telling someone what you know is the right thing but which completely goes against what it is that you really want! Bill and Emmy care so much about each other that they will sacrifice what they each want to make the other happy (so gift of the magi but with a lot more nuance)! I liked that the narrative is more on Emmy’s side (as it should be) but Bill is still a somewhat redeemable character, aiming to be as good, as disciplined, as kind a person as his wife.

The Bridal Party — 3⭐️

This feels like classic Fitzgerald - a beautiful woman is in love with a brute of a man and not the sensitive soul who would do anything for her?? My main issue is that this story definitely feels like there’s too much closure. I think the ending could’ve been more ambiguous when it came to Michael’s feelings- I don’t believe someone can change that much over the course of one night sorry!
(also Fitzgerald LOVES to use abstracted as an adjective for people’s demeanour, it gets annoying at points lol)

Crazy Sunday — 4⭐️

This story feels the richest in terms of its discussion of 1930s culture, and not just because it takes place in Hollywood! There are some nice little quips about psychoanalysis which I really enjoyed, you can sense the cultural attitudes towards this new phenomenon- the psychoanalyst is someone you should have blind faith in, but also someone you should be wary of! You can also feel the party culture of the 20s dying out, alcohol is no longer fun- it causes routine embarrassment and is something that you should avoid (even if you can’t bring yourself to do so). I am also a big fan of the way Fitzgerald writes about men who are so nonchalant about their wives emotions (The Bridal Party has the same theme). The dirty laundry is aired in front of some naïve young man who is drawn to the wife (so Gatsby as well lol). I need to know if couples were really arguing this much in front of all of their friends in the early 20th century (maybe the upper echelons still do and I just don’t know it)! I think my main issue with this story is again the ending, it was much less teleological than The Bridal Party but still I wanted less closure.

Three Hours Between Planes - 3.5⭐️

Tempted to rate this one higher but it’s quite a simplistic narrative and therefore I don’t think the female character has basically any personality at all (but neither does Donald so who am I to judge)! It’s like if Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’ was a bittersweet farce lol, it conveys both the longing for your childhood emotions and the endearing awkwardness of flirting (two excellent themes imo)! I don’t think I quite understood the ending though but that’s on me!

The Lost Decade — 4.5/5⭐️

I have seen people say that this story is too short (and it is crazy short), but this might be one of the most heartbreaking stories i’ve ever read. The reveal of why this man lost a full decade of his life tore me apart on a transtextual level like nothing else!! F. Scott Fitzgerald how many decades did you lose for this very same reason?


Okay I feel really sad now, and also like I need to read every other short story Fitzgerald wrote (it will take me a while)!! But in the meantime I will keep thinking about how “it isn’t given to us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal.”

[Sergio Gómez Senovilla]

Much to my surprise, the story revealed a profound emotional depth that surpassed my expectations.

F. Scott Fitzgerald explores alienation through the lens of a protagonist who has lost not only time, but also his sense of identity. Alongside this, he examines themes like glamour, decline, and the inevitable transformations brought by time, while delving into deep emotional wounds that may never fully heal.

The storyline follows Louis Trimble, an architect who re-enters into New York society after a ten-year absence, not a physical exile but due to a decade lost to alcoholism. His return is marked by disorientation and emotional estrangement. The city he once helped design will be now alien and unfamiliar. His addiction has erased a decade of memory and professional achievement. As he walks the streets of New York, he observes its people and architecture with fresh and naïve eyes. His decision to re-engage with the world represents a form of existential awakening after years of emotional paralysis and detachment. Trimble’s experience suggests the unconscious repression of trauma, with alcoholism masking deeper emotional wounds. His identity becomes that of a fragmented self, torn between past and present.

The narrative contrasts two versions of New York: the vibrant metropolis of the 1920s, filled with promise, and the unrecognisable, alienating city of the late 1930s. The author uses New York not merely as a backdrop, but as a symbolic landscape, embodying anonymity, disconnection, and transformation, as well as the dehumanising effects of modern capitalism.

With elegiac tone, the author blends a dreamy romanticism with an acute awareness of devastating personal loss. The city’s architecture, skyline, and textures mirror both Trimble’s professional identity and his inner fragmentation. Thereby critiques the psychological toll of both, modern urban life and capitalist excess, on the individual.

In The Lost Decade, Fitzgerald combines modernist aesthetics with existential and psychoanalytic insight, offering a profound meditation on identity, memory, and the cost of personal collapse. The plot reflects a sharp awareness of a world that has already moved on without you, leaving both the protagonist and the reader with a sense of irretrievable loss and bitter introspection. It suggests that past mistakes cannot always be rectified, and that memory can function simultaneously as a sanctuary and a prison.
Ultimately, it is a bleak reflection on what is lost when one becomes disconnected from life and from oneself, and how, even upon returning, nothing is ever quite the same.

[Sophie Bowns]

I love anything by F Scott Fitzgerald

[Jaden]

“He did not understand all he had heard, but from his clandestine glimpse into the privacy of these two, with all the world that his short experience could conceive of at their feet, he had gathered that life for everybody was a struggle, sometimes magnificent from a distance, but always difficult and surprisingly simple and a little sad.”


I sometimes have a hard time trying to really immerse myself into certain Fitzgerald books and this was definitely one of them (which sucks! because I really do love his works). There are a total of 7 short stories in here and I honestly think I really only enjoyed 2 of them. Nothing really held up for me (however, like always, it was still a beautifully written book). I think some of these shorts would’ve made really good novels, but then again… if they couldn’t keep me very interested then what good would a longer version bring? I have a few other Fitzgerald books on my shelves that I haven’t gotten to yet so I’m hoping that they’ll be much better when I finally get to them.

[James]

Looking specifically about The Lost Decade only, it is about two gentleman, I presume taking a walk through New York looking at the buildings, of which one is an alcoholic.

Alcohol is very prevalent with Fitzgerald, understandably as he was an alcoholic.

This short story is just too short, not enough time to really get into it.

[Sarah Moffat]

Didn't read 3 of the stories as I found it quite boring and the characters quite repetitive.

[Elizabeth]

A revisit, and worth it.

[Yasomie]

More of a 3.5. I’d it recommend if you enjoy Fitzgerald’s work but would say it lacks the sparkle of his earlier work. Generally leaves you feeling a bit sad and disillusioned.

[Sofie v B]

Ik ben “male author writing female characters”-moe

[Michael Vawser]

First edition 1968