The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A New Collection

by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew J. Bruccoli (Editor)

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics

775 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

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

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep meaning to update this before I forget individual stories as I read, and now that I'm almost a third of the way through, it's a good time to do it.
"Head and Shoulders": 4 stars: the contents are funny, and at first, I didn't like the story, but I became more interested as the relationship between Marcia and Horace built. I could tell it's an early story because the language is dripping with dew and diamonds and nostalgia, but it has that Fitzgerald quality that I love, his humility balanced with his earnestness. The ending is just perfect. I love the twist on the title phrase.
"Bernice Bobs Her Hair": 5 stars: I read this one before, and I sort of remembered the details as I read, but I forgot that ending. Wow. I love it so much. It's just so...spiteful and petty but perfect--Fitzgerald said Hemingway couldn't write women, and I don't think Fitzy was all that great at it either, but in this case, he was spot on in my opinion. I love this story, and I don't like saying it, but I kind of feel like Marjorie "deserved" it...
"The Ice Palace": 5 stars: This one, I remembered the ending of before I got there, but I still had fun getting there, and in fact, remembering how it ended built my suspense and wanting to get there and see how it happened. It makes so much sense, and there's an anti-climactic quality to the ending, but it also feels perfect. It's sad, but it's also fitting. I love it.
"The Offshore Pirate": 5 stars: For me, it's the ending. I don't love short stories because the endings almost always let me down. The only other collection I know had the perfect ending almost every time is Half Wild: Stories, and so far, the endings of all these stories have not let me down. The editorial notes indicate that Fitzgerald thought the last line of this story was one of his best lines ever, so I was reading this with great anticipation, hoping I wouldn't be disappointed, and no, he's right--it's such a great line. I keep thinking about it, and it doesn't get old. It made the story for me 100%.
"May Day": 4.5 stars, maybe 5?: This novella was just...I don't know. I was wondering where it was going, and it was building, and there is so much content about the post war attitudes, the culture, the vibes, the drinking, the politics, college, relationships, debt, men and women...it's intense. But it's also funny! The two drunk soldiers, but then...it gets serious. And that ending... WOW. I think I stared at that page and reread a few times. It's intense. Yeah, it's 5 stars.
"The Jelly-Bean": 3 stars: This one was interesting, but it's not different enough, really, to make an impact. The ending is solid, and I like the main character, but it doesn't feel significant enough. The only thing that stands out to me is that it really reminded me of Winesburg, Ohio as I was reading. I always knew Sherwood Anderson impacted Fitzgerald, but this is the first time I can recall really feeling that impact in his work.
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": 4 stars: I remember when the movie with Brad Pitt came out. I loved the movie, and of course, I wanted to read the source material, especially because I didn't know at the time that Fitzgerald wrote fantasy-esque stories, and I was slightly disappointed by the story because it's so short, and it didn't have the same emotion the movie has. But reading it again in context of other short stories by Fitzy, I realized that I do like it. It's well done and also includes multiple topics like wealth, the war, marriage, love, fidelity, etc. I just agree with Fitzgerald, according to the editorial note, that he didn't do the concept justice. I also think that it's not accurate to Mark Twain's inspirational quote that it's sad the best part of life is in the beginning. To me, that would be done entirely differently than being born old. It would more mean that we stay young longer, which would have much more of an impact on a character in my opinion. But the story makes me think, and I like the ending a lot.
"The Diamond as Big as the Ritz": 4 stars: Fitzgerald said he was in a luxurious mood when he started this, and I can see that--it's just showing off what one's imagination could think up when it comes to wealth and luxury. But then...all the subtle statements about killing people, and our protagonist doesn't put two and two together??? The ending is surprising because it seems so unlikely, but then, it happens, and there we are. I like the last few paragraphs. It's this strong contrast between a naive and ignorant, inexperienced person and an experienced and disillusioned soul that makes sense. This, to me, is starting to feel more like Gatsby Fitzgerald, which is my favorite Fitzgerald--Tender Fitzgerald is almost too star-laced, gauzy, and trying, but Gatsby is effortless, just silk shirts flying in the air.
"Winter Dreams": 5 stars: Now, we're talking! I reread those last paragraphs 3 times, and I could read them again and still feel like I'm reading them for the first time. This is a different Fitz than This Side of Paradise/Head and Shoulders Fitz, but it's my favorite one, the Fitz writing that made me fall in love with his work. It's Daisy and Gatsby, Zelda and Scott...to me, it's the nostalgia, the sadness, the understanding of what was lost and the knowing that you can't ever get it back, that you'll never have it again, and now, life is just business, Hollywood producers, money is business, not promises. This story says so much in such a short space. I can see how Fitz cropped some of it for Gatsby. It makes me want to reread Gatsby!
*Done for now--I hope to update this as I keep reading, so the earlier stories stay fresher on my mind* *I ended up including ratings and details in the progress updates*
For the collection as a whole, my dad gave me this book, and I was so excited to receive it and find that I actually hadn't read all the stories in the collection already. I thought I might have, owning a couple collections and knowing that many times, anthologized stories are canon. That being said, I was happy that I hadn't read many of these and would get to experience and interact with more of one of my favorite authors even though I've already read all his novels and many of his stories and essays. I wanted to start it in the fall because, ever since I took 20th Century American Lit up to 1945 in grad school in the fall, Fitzgerald=fall to me. I'm glad I started it when I did and finished it when I did (although the perfectionist in me wishes I'd finished it on the 15th...ugh!)--the timing was perfect!
At first, I was wary because the collection is so long, and I'm not the biggest short story fan as a rule, but I never should have doubted my man, Scott. Every single story with two exceptions (sort of) ends so perfectly. My biggest gripe against short stories is that, most of the time, I don't like the endings. These all ended so well and made me feel satisfied while also left me thinking and wondering. I love that they are all these perfect snippets of lives and characters and conflicts and struggles and portraits of a time. Some stories really moved me, emotionally and mentally. Reading all these works has just solidified Scott as one of my favorite authors and actually made me admire, appreciate, and love his work even more. I would be happy to eventually reread this book or some of the stories, at least, and delve more deeply into them.
Overall, I really loved reading this book. It was nostalgic and thought-provoking and happy yet also deeply moving and sad. I always find that Fitz is such a palpable presence in his work. I don't just read the stories and feel for the characters, but I also always feel for him, too. I strongly recommend this book to Fitzgerald lovers, lovers of American literature, and people who enjoy snapshots of life and who appreciate stories about relationships and social life/class and enjoy seeing the development of an experience and a genius.

[Stephen Hoogerhyde · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of 43 stories, arranged roughly in the order in which they were written or published. At the head of each story, Bruccoli (a preeminent Fitzgerald scholar) provides a brief introduction to the story, giving details of when and where it was published, often how much Fitzgerald received for the story, and many times pointing out autobiographical elements that featured in the story.

I do love Fitzgerald, but I am more a lover of the long form than the short form. Consequently, I love novels more than short stories; otherwise, I might have given this book 4 stars. The collection contains stories as short as two pages and as long as forty-five pages. It includes some of his best work: "May Day", "The Diamond As Big As the Ritz", "The Rich Boy", and "Babylon Revisited".

The stories give pictures of life in the 1920s and 1930s, in the excesses of the Jazz Age and in the sobering postlude to the Great Crash, in big city and small town America, and among the American expatriates living in Europe. In contrast to Hemingway's masculine prose, Fitzgerald wrote with an elegance tinged with commentary on the excesses of his age.

This collection is well worth a read.

[Persephone6 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm only giving this book three stars because many stories I didn't like so much or I thought were just okay stories. Still I definitely had some favorites that I really enjoyed! I found the whole book really interesting, though because all the stories are set in Fritzgerald's time, in the early 1900's. On one hand, it's a whole other world and time but on the other it's the same because, to me at least, people seem to stay mostly the same at heart over the ages.

[Gordon Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

He is a candidate for the best American writer ever, and these stories prove it. The worst is Benjamin Button, if only because the terrible Brad Pitt movie exposes the flaws of the source material. Favorites: Bernice Bob's Her Hair, A Short Trip Home, The Swimmers.

[Richard Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nancy had a mouth like a remembered kiss."

"The sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar."

".... of gracious, soft-voice girls who were brought up on memories instead of money."

"I'm no fool. I've been around. I know men. And, child, confirmed libertines don't reform until they're tired -- and then they're not themselves -- they're husks of themselves."

F. Scott was the master of the brief, lyrical, yet penetrating comment. He is one of those few who write so beautifully you want to read slowly, to linger over his exquisite craftsmanship. (But you knew all this already, didn't you?)

What may truly surprise you are instances, among his lesser-read works, of his shocking racism. His story lines don't compel him to flavor his prose with disparaging remarks about black people. He does it because it is his habit. It is his pleasure.

You have been warned.

[Eugenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Fitzgerald's writing. I loved Gatsby and This Side of Paradise, but the short stories got kind of repetitive--there are 775 pages in this book and that is a LOT of stories. I have always liked the types of characters Fitzgerald writes about, but by the time I got to the end I wanted just one person to be unattractive and come from a poor family that they have not 'escaped'. Also, I find his portrayal of women annoying. His women tend toward being shallow and foolish and I began to resent that. In one story a well-meaning uncle/guardian tricks a young woman into falling for the man he chose by staging a complicated kidnapping--and when she finds out about it she goes ahead and marries the young man.... It got tiresome, but some of the sentences are just beautiful.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the fantastical magical realism or fantasy stories I did not enjoy nor did I think were executed particularly well. Fitzgerald also strikes some very racist, misogynist, and xenophobic tones throughout the stories which does make me wonder how well these continue to hold up.
He does not create memorable characters exactly, but some of the very Jazz-y Age-y stories do evoke the particular time and place. Those stories I liked best - coming of age stories or turning points of the Lost Generation searching for themselves and meaning after WWI.
I still love Gatsby, but there are better collections of short stories out there!

[Susan Lomanno]

I only read a selection of short stories, two recommended by former colleagues who are English teachers and have taught The Great Gatsby as well as: WINTER DREAMS. A foreshadowing g of the Gatsby story
BERNICE BOBS HER HAIR. A search for self as well as self respect.
I thoroughly enjoyed both!
I think this is a book to own, not one due at library. I would like to pick it up at random and enjoy a short story here and there. I am not a huge short story reader but I like those by Fitzgerald, Stephen King, Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver, among others.

[Kim WV · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually did not read this tome from cover to cover but recently dipped into it here and there. So technically I did not "finish" it. I especially liked Bernice Bobs Her Hair. And also The Curious Case of Benjamin Button although this one is not your typical Fitzgerald story and...rather sad. The Swimmers was interesting but not a favorite. Anyway, I'll be dipping back in from time to time.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some great short stories in here (favorites: Benjamin Button, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, The Lost Decade). However it is a VERY long book and can be hard to stay interested because the storyline and characters change so often (as is to be expected.) Fitzgerald does write beautifully and explores thematic opposites such as social class and money, love and loss, discipline and laziness.

[Jon Jurgovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these short stories were amazing and some I wasn't crazy about. This is definitely a book I want to revisit. So much of Fitzgerald's life is reflected in his fiction.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating series of short stories, many sold to the popular NY magazines at the time. I gather these stories paid for F Scott's lifestyle as he wrote what he considered his more important novels including the Great Gatsby. Snapshots of like of the wealthy in NY. Many stories are clearly early experiments in developing characters for his novels. Many early glimpses of the development of Jay Gatsby and Daisy. But real insight into the culture and lifestyles of the 20's and 30's.