F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) published The Great Gatsby in 1925 to modest sales and mixed reviews; it sold poorly for the rest of his life and he died believing himself a failure at forty-four. The book was revived by a wartime edition distributed free to American servicemen and is now the novel most often used to explain the decade it describes. Fitzgerald is quoted more than he is read, and usually for the last sentence, which is bleaker than its reputation. Quotes here are cited by chapter and checked against the text.