What do you think?
Rate this book
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, All the Sad Young Men & Other Writings 1920–26 (LOA #353)
Library of America’s authoritative Fitzgerald edition continues with his greatest masterpiece and best story collection of stories in newly edited texts
This long-awaited second volume of Library of America’s authoritative edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald features the author’s acknowledged masterpiece and most popular book, The Great Gatsby .
It was Gatsby that solidified his reputation as the chronicler of the Jazz Age and established him as one of the leading American novelists of his generation. Perhaps no other novel of the twentieth century makes a greater claim to being our Great American Novel—for its poetic prose, its exploration of the broad, intertwined themes of money, class, and American optimism (Daisy Buchanan’s voice is “full of money”), its dominance of high school and college curricula, and its claims upon the public imagination. The novel is presented in a newly edited text, correcting numerous errors and restoring Fitzgerald’s preferred American spellings.
Also included in this volume are Fitzgerald’s third collection of stories, All the Sad Young Men , which includes some of the author’s best short fiction—"Winter Dreams,” “The Rich Boy,” and “Absolution”—as well as a generous selection of stories and nonfiction from the period 1920–1926, all in newly corrected texts.
This long-awaited second volume of Library of America’s authoritative edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald features the author’s acknowledged masterpiece and most popular book, The Great Gatsby .
It was Gatsby that solidified his reputation as the chronicler of the Jazz Age and established him as one of the leading American novelists of his generation. Perhaps no other novel of the twentieth century makes a greater claim to being our Great American Novel—for its poetic prose, its exploration of the broad, intertwined themes of money, class, and American optimism (Daisy Buchanan’s voice is “full of money”), its dominance of high school and college curricula, and its claims upon the public imagination. The novel is presented in a newly edited text, correcting numerous errors and restoring Fitzgerald’s preferred American spellings.
Also included in this volume are Fitzgerald’s third collection of stories, All the Sad Young Men , which includes some of the author’s best short fiction—"Winter Dreams,” “The Rich Boy,” and “Absolution”—as well as a generous selection of stories and nonfiction from the period 1920–1926, all in newly corrected texts.
756 pages, Hardcover
Published April 12, 2022
8 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
F. Scott Fitzgerald
2,138 books25.7k 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 19, 2022
My thanks to NetGalley and the Library of America for an advanced copy of this new collection in the their remarkable series.
The Library of America release of the second volume featuring the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, covers not only his greatest, well known work, but a collection of short stories, that shows Mr. Fitzgerald at not only his best, and sometimes, well, not.
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, All the Sad Young Men & Other Writings 1920–26 presents both The Great Gatsby and the shorter works in a newly edited text, with minor and major corrections, and spelling in the way that the author preferred. Some might say that the stories are dated, but looked in a our hyper-social media lifestyle, these stores take on a new life. Newly rich finding fault with themselves, their class their country, and finding only addiction to be interesting and a way to wake up in the morning. Or a self-made instagram star living a fake life for fame and power to impress people and win adoration and love they so surely grew up without. Gatsby would have been quite at home, maybe not on tick tock, but his Twitter feed would have been a trip.
The short stories range in quality as Fitzgerald found himself, and his writing style, which gradually began to slip away as fame was fleeting, the drinking getting worse, and his family problems worsened. However a few show a lot of talent, and again seem more timeless rather than of a age. The nonfiction pieces range in quality depending on the subject matter, but are still quite worth reading. I've not read much of his nonfiction, and was quite pleased by how much I enjoyed them.
The books in the Library of America are all beautiful looking, that simple cover with photo and long titles. As a book person, even if I am not a fan of the author, I always love looking at these volumes, flipping through, admiring the text and the essays. The Fitzgerald is of course a fine edition to add to the Library, and there are besides Gatsby many fine pieces to enjoy in this volume.
The Library of America release of the second volume featuring the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, covers not only his greatest, well known work, but a collection of short stories, that shows Mr. Fitzgerald at not only his best, and sometimes, well, not.
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, All the Sad Young Men & Other Writings 1920–26 presents both The Great Gatsby and the shorter works in a newly edited text, with minor and major corrections, and spelling in the way that the author preferred. Some might say that the stories are dated, but looked in a our hyper-social media lifestyle, these stores take on a new life. Newly rich finding fault with themselves, their class their country, and finding only addiction to be interesting and a way to wake up in the morning. Or a self-made instagram star living a fake life for fame and power to impress people and win adoration and love they so surely grew up without. Gatsby would have been quite at home, maybe not on tick tock, but his Twitter feed would have been a trip.
The short stories range in quality as Fitzgerald found himself, and his writing style, which gradually began to slip away as fame was fleeting, the drinking getting worse, and his family problems worsened. However a few show a lot of talent, and again seem more timeless rather than of a age. The nonfiction pieces range in quality depending on the subject matter, but are still quite worth reading. I've not read much of his nonfiction, and was quite pleased by how much I enjoyed them.
The books in the Library of America are all beautiful looking, that simple cover with photo and long titles. As a book person, even if I am not a fan of the author, I always love looking at these volumes, flipping through, admiring the text and the essays. The Fitzgerald is of course a fine edition to add to the Library, and there are besides Gatsby many fine pieces to enjoy in this volume.
January 22, 2024
Good book. This was my first time reading Fitzgerald since high school. I wanted to understand why his works are so beloved, and upon the books conclusion I now understand. This collection is separated into 3 categories, The Great Gatsby, All The Sad Young Men, and other works, and my review will follow suit.
The Great Gatsby is a U.S. classic and tons have been said about it. I found it interesting how it's a metaphor for capitalism and aspiring not to a certain lifestyle, but the idea of the lifestyle. We see that those that come from old money are really terrible, slovenly, people, and they look down on those that have actually lived the American dream by working towards a better future. They constantly toy with the lives of others then retreat back into their wealth. Gatsby wanted the lifestyle, because he thought that it was what everyone aspired to. On a literal reading of the text he was a simp, but I admire the hustle and I sympathize with his affinity towards self improvement.
All The Sad Young Man is a collection of short stories, sometimes humorous, sometimes intriguing. but never too dramatic. This section of ht ebook resonated with me, because I am the same age of some of the protagonists. It's away s fun to see that no matter how much times passes we still have things in common with people from the past. I've been in similar situations as the protagonists and can easily related to them.
Some things that I have noticed about these works, excluding The Great Gatsby is that all of them are about old money probably a bi-product of Fitzgerald's time in Princeton. young people living amongst old money and the daily struggles that they live through
Some that stood out to me were The Popular Girl and 40 winks.
The Great Gatsby is a U.S. classic and tons have been said about it. I found it interesting how it's a metaphor for capitalism and aspiring not to a certain lifestyle, but the idea of the lifestyle. We see that those that come from old money are really terrible, slovenly, people, and they look down on those that have actually lived the American dream by working towards a better future. They constantly toy with the lives of others then retreat back into their wealth. Gatsby wanted the lifestyle, because he thought that it was what everyone aspired to. On a literal reading of the text he was a simp, but I admire the hustle and I sympathize with his affinity towards self improvement.
All The Sad Young Man is a collection of short stories, sometimes humorous, sometimes intriguing. but never too dramatic. This section of ht ebook resonated with me, because I am the same age of some of the protagonists. It's away s fun to see that no matter how much times passes we still have things in common with people from the past. I've been in similar situations as the protagonists and can easily related to them.
Some things that I have noticed about these works, excluding The Great Gatsby is that all of them are about old money probably a bi-product of Fitzgerald's time in Princeton. young people living amongst old money and the daily struggles that they live through
Some that stood out to me were The Popular Girl and 40 winks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2022
Oh, my, could the man write!
What is so impressive about the numerous short stories in this lengthy, beautifully-produced volume is their variety, freshness, and inventiveness.
Fitzgerald clearly had a keen eye for "types" of persons, as well as for the language they used, including body language. He also possessed a great sense of humor, as many of these stories show.
While his characters are overwhelming -- although not entirely -- from the upper-middle-class, including those who aspired to reach or remain in that class, their very humanity (which, after all, despite their economic or social conditions, they share with the rest of us) quickly captures us and draws us into their story.
A very enjoyable volume in which I read one or two stories each evening for several weeks.
If you are familiar with Fitzgerald, I recommend this.
If you are not, this might be a great book to begin to sample his talents as it doesn't take the same time commitment to read a short story or two compared to a full novel.
Thanks again to the Library of America for their significant service to the rest of us in preserving such wonderful milestones of American literature.
What is so impressive about the numerous short stories in this lengthy, beautifully-produced volume is their variety, freshness, and inventiveness.
Fitzgerald clearly had a keen eye for "types" of persons, as well as for the language they used, including body language. He also possessed a great sense of humor, as many of these stories show.
While his characters are overwhelming -- although not entirely -- from the upper-middle-class, including those who aspired to reach or remain in that class, their very humanity (which, after all, despite their economic or social conditions, they share with the rest of us) quickly captures us and draws us into their story.
A very enjoyable volume in which I read one or two stories each evening for several weeks.
If you are familiar with Fitzgerald, I recommend this.
If you are not, this might be a great book to begin to sample his talents as it doesn't take the same time commitment to read a short story or two compared to a full novel.
Thanks again to the Library of America for their significant service to the rest of us in preserving such wonderful milestones of American literature.
March 23, 2022
In the not so distant past I divulged that I read The Great Gatsby every year. After a slight pause I was asked the following: Why? And do you know, in that moment, I couldn’t answer. Think about it. What is it about Gatsby that places it on the pedestal of classic 20th Century American Literature, a book that perfectly captures an enraptured generation in under 200 pages. Thanks to Library Of America we all have the opportunity to ponder this question for they have just released: #F..ScottFitzgerald:TheGreatGatsby,AllTheSadYoungMen&OtherWritings1920-26, a compendium of Fitzgerald’s work from ages 24-30 when he was perhaps at the height of his powers. Let me say here that I did not begin my Great Gatsby reading marathon until I was about 40 ( I’m 72 now ), an age when I had plenty of opportunities to experience life’s highs and lows but amazingly to me 10-16 older than Fitzgerald when he created. this prescient material which is infused with an ebullient but melancholy tone hinting that F.S.F. was wise beyond his years. This new package of Fitzgerald’s writings 1920-26 is the perfect way to savor some of his most eloquent material. I can’t help but think that had he lived long enough he would have smiled when The Beatles sang “ I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love”.
June 18, 2023
My second attempt at reading The Great Gatsby, and I'm still largely unmoved by it. I freely admit I have difficulty with books where the narrative isn't necessarily the main point. Where the story is not conventional. Fitzgerald complained that many critics didn't get what he was trying to do with the book, and I think many, like me, approached it at face value. Here are some relatively uninteresting characters passing their days away in lazy luxury on Long Island, are you feeling all the ennui? Yeah, I feel it, doesn't mean I want to read about it.
July 16, 2022
This review refers to the Library of America edition rather than Fitzgerald’s writing in general. This collection is an excellent one, including as it does The Great Gatsby, his third collection of stories All The Sad Young Men, plus a further selection of short stories, essays and non-fiction pieces from 1920-1926. All in one volume.
January 23, 2024
The Great Gatsby was one of my literary blindspots for so long, I was glad to finally remove it from my TBR list. Especially with a wonderful LOA edition that introduced me to some of Fitzgerald's great short stories as well.
February 3, 2022
Thoroughly intend to purchase this upon publication. Fitzgerald is a favorite and this was a lovely collection to come across, full of some of his best works.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews