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Patt Hobby & Orson Welles
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigmatic writings of the Jazz Age. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s. He finished four novels: "This Side of Paradise", "The Beautiful and Damned", "The Great Gatsby" (his most famous), and "Tender Is the Night". A fifth, unfinished novel, "The Love of the Last Tycoon", was published posthumously. Fitzgerald also wrote many short stories that treat themes of youth and promise along with age and despair.
Fitzgerald's work has been adapted into films many times. His short story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", was the basis for a 2008 film. "Tender Is the Night" was filmed in 1962, and made into a television miniseries in 1985. "The Beautiful and Damned" was filmed in 1922 and 2010. "The Great Gatsby" has been the basis for numerous films of the same name, spanning nearly 90 years: 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000, and 2013 adaptations. In addition, Fitzgerald's own life from 1937 to 1940 was dramatized in 1958 in "Beloved Infidel".
Fitzgerald's work has been adapted into films many times. His short story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", was the basis for a 2008 film. "Tender Is the Night" was filmed in 1962, and made into a television miniseries in 1985. "The Beautiful and Damned" was filmed in 1922 and 2010. "The Great Gatsby" has been the basis for numerous films of the same name, spanning nearly 90 years: 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000, and 2013 adaptations. In addition, Fitzgerald's own life from 1937 to 1940 was dramatized in 1958 in "Beloved Infidel".
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1940
21 people want to read
About the author
F. Scott Fitzgerald
2,097 books25.6k followersFrancis 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 22, 2019
(Audible)
There are 17 Patt Hobby stories, written by Fitzgerald during his time in Hollywood, working as a screenwriter in the late 30's. Separated from Zelda, struggling to make money, and once again find the fame that had once been given so freely, Patt Hobby is a somewhat alter ego for Fitzgerald.
Hobby is a down and out screen writer from silent film days struggling to make a go of it in the new movie industry. He drinks too much, never seems to have any money but these stories aren't about pitying the poor man. The stories are meant to be lighthearted, gently humorous--entertaining.
Really enjoyed this one. Patt Hobby is out of funds and searching through is mental Rolodex for who he might tap for a little loan. Everywhere he goes, though, all people can talk about is Orson Wells. Genius Orson Wells. Amazing writer and director Orson Wells. Fabulous Orson Wells. Hobby is sick of it and while he never met Orson Wells, has decided that his current predicament is all the fault of Orson Wells.
Turns out Patt Hobby looks a bit like Orson Wells and when people keep commenting on this to him he gets really annoyed. The friend that decides he'll loan him ten dollars, talks him into being a test subject for his skills at hollywood makeup. Hobby gets a false beard that makes him look even more like Orson Wells.
Delighted, the make up man decides they should drive over to the movie lot. A movie is casting extras with beards. Patt could make some extra money and that would be good, right? But what Patt doesn't know is the make-up artist slaps a sign on the car that says "Orson Wells".
And that's just the start of the adventure.
A delightful story. Fitzgerald's self deprecating humor isn't mean or humiliating.
RECOMMEND
There are 17 Patt Hobby stories, written by Fitzgerald during his time in Hollywood, working as a screenwriter in the late 30's. Separated from Zelda, struggling to make money, and once again find the fame that had once been given so freely, Patt Hobby is a somewhat alter ego for Fitzgerald.
Hobby is a down and out screen writer from silent film days struggling to make a go of it in the new movie industry. He drinks too much, never seems to have any money but these stories aren't about pitying the poor man. The stories are meant to be lighthearted, gently humorous--entertaining.
Really enjoyed this one. Patt Hobby is out of funds and searching through is mental Rolodex for who he might tap for a little loan. Everywhere he goes, though, all people can talk about is Orson Wells. Genius Orson Wells. Amazing writer and director Orson Wells. Fabulous Orson Wells. Hobby is sick of it and while he never met Orson Wells, has decided that his current predicament is all the fault of Orson Wells.
Turns out Patt Hobby looks a bit like Orson Wells and when people keep commenting on this to him he gets really annoyed. The friend that decides he'll loan him ten dollars, talks him into being a test subject for his skills at hollywood makeup. Hobby gets a false beard that makes him look even more like Orson Wells.
Delighted, the make up man decides they should drive over to the movie lot. A movie is casting extras with beards. Patt could make some extra money and that would be good, right? But what Patt doesn't know is the make-up artist slaps a sign on the car that says "Orson Wells".
And that's just the start of the adventure.
A delightful story. Fitzgerald's self deprecating humor isn't mean or humiliating.
RECOMMEND
July 4, 2021
Vintage Fitzgerald...very tightly written.
September 3, 2025
Patt Hobby & Orson Wells by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I just realized that the best director meets the best writer in this little story: according to many, Orson Wells made the best picture ever, and F Scott Fitzgerald wrote the best novel, in the opinion of others.
F Scott Fitzgerald is the best writer whose work I had the chance to read. This is according to The Modern Library top 100 books list, where number is Ulysses, but since I could not bring myself to read (even if I did start) Ulysses, The Great Gatsby, at number two becomes the best book read by me. In my view, there would be a number of works I liked just as much.
I loved this short story- it is witty, funny and talks about Hollywood, the name in the title is for real, even if we never come upon the real Wells in the tale.
From the start, we understand that the director of the movie many considered the best ever made…Citizen Kane- is a kind of anti hero here, or at least the butt of jokes and envy.
“Who is this Wells, everybody talks about? You can’t open a paper without his name….
He’s that beard”
This a difficult time for Patt Hobby, the other name in the title of the story: Wells is in, Patty is out. He tries to get a job with the cinema studio, but finds it hard to get passed the policeman at the gate. As he tries to pass the gate keeper, Hobby imagines how he deals the policeman blows: plunk, plunk…like in the action flicks of Hollywood.
Patt Hobby mentions a name, to get through:
“-he always passes me…
- That’s why he’s gone”
We would laugh, but the humor here is mixed with empathy, because our main hero is in trouble, which he tries to escape by “sticking around- hanging around the studio in person”
There is more black humor: the entrance on the premises is difficult because a visitor from Chicago fell into the wind machine”
“Orson Wells belongs in New York, what did he do to earn 150 grand a picture”? We see that the resentment is deep and irony would be even greater, when a resemblance between the two characters is magnified by a beard. An acquaintance would not loan Patt $ 10, if he doesn’t accept a false beard.
The paradox couldn’t be greater: they resemble and yet they are like The Prince and The Pauper (of Hollywood)
F Scott Fitzgerald knew the movie industry well, for he has been a screenwriter. He is also a character in Hollywood productions- a major recent success with Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda (interesting name) was made by Woody Allen- Midnight in Paris.
I just realized that the best director meets the best writer in this little story: according to many, Orson Wells made the best picture ever, and F Scott Fitzgerald wrote the best novel, in the opinion of others.
F Scott Fitzgerald is the best writer whose work I had the chance to read. This is according to The Modern Library top 100 books list, where number is Ulysses, but since I could not bring myself to read (even if I did start) Ulysses, The Great Gatsby, at number two becomes the best book read by me. In my view, there would be a number of works I liked just as much.
I loved this short story- it is witty, funny and talks about Hollywood, the name in the title is for real, even if we never come upon the real Wells in the tale.
From the start, we understand that the director of the movie many considered the best ever made…Citizen Kane- is a kind of anti hero here, or at least the butt of jokes and envy.
“Who is this Wells, everybody talks about? You can’t open a paper without his name….
He’s that beard”
This a difficult time for Patt Hobby, the other name in the title of the story: Wells is in, Patty is out. He tries to get a job with the cinema studio, but finds it hard to get passed the policeman at the gate. As he tries to pass the gate keeper, Hobby imagines how he deals the policeman blows: plunk, plunk…like in the action flicks of Hollywood.
Patt Hobby mentions a name, to get through:
“-he always passes me…
- That’s why he’s gone”
We would laugh, but the humor here is mixed with empathy, because our main hero is in trouble, which he tries to escape by “sticking around- hanging around the studio in person”
There is more black humor: the entrance on the premises is difficult because a visitor from Chicago fell into the wind machine”
“Orson Wells belongs in New York, what did he do to earn 150 grand a picture”? We see that the resentment is deep and irony would be even greater, when a resemblance between the two characters is magnified by a beard. An acquaintance would not loan Patt $ 10, if he doesn’t accept a false beard.
The paradox couldn’t be greater: they resemble and yet they are like The Prince and The Pauper (of Hollywood)
F Scott Fitzgerald knew the movie industry well, for he has been a screenwriter. He is also a character in Hollywood productions- a major recent success with Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda (interesting name) was made by Woody Allen- Midnight in Paris.
March 10, 2025
🖊 Hilarious fun as everyone seems to think Pat looks like Welles, but the crux of the matter is much fuzzier. ★★★★★
About the Pat Hobby stories: Pat Hobby, a down-and-out and alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter whose heyday was during the silent movie era, yet who still hangs around the sound stages, looking for work in some form or another.
Fitzgerald’s theme of glories long past and perhaps dead, is woven well within these stories, and could well be viewed as autobiographical. Fitzgerald himself spent the last years of his life in La La Land, pickled and adulterous and continually looking for work in Hollywood – somewhat successfully – while his wife, Zelda, lived elsewhere east of the Mississippi River as she dealt with her own mental problems.
Fitzgerald’s Pat Hobby marinates in nostalgia and self-depreciating humor, with brilliant digs at the Hollywood machine.
📕Published — May 1940 in Esquire.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
About the Pat Hobby stories: Pat Hobby, a down-and-out and alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter whose heyday was during the silent movie era, yet who still hangs around the sound stages, looking for work in some form or another.
Fitzgerald’s theme of glories long past and perhaps dead, is woven well within these stories, and could well be viewed as autobiographical. Fitzgerald himself spent the last years of his life in La La Land, pickled and adulterous and continually looking for work in Hollywood – somewhat successfully – while his wife, Zelda, lived elsewhere east of the Mississippi River as she dealt with her own mental problems.
Fitzgerald’s Pat Hobby marinates in nostalgia and self-depreciating humor, with brilliant digs at the Hollywood machine.
📕Published — May 1940 in Esquire.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
September 24, 2015
Heard on audiobook. An interesting short story about Hollywood & the feelings towards Orson Wells. It was ok.
September 5, 2020
Okay. Down on his luck and passing for the new sensation Orson Welles.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews