Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories / Edition 1

by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew J. Bruccoli

Overview

Fitzgerald's short fiction before he wrote the great American novel

For the first time, the short stories F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote before he began work on what would become his great American novel, The Great Gatsby, have been collected in one volume. Originally published between 1919 and 1923, these twenty-six stories--many of which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and two earlier collections, Flappers and Philosophers and Tales of the Jazz Age--document the striking development of Fitzgerald's professionalism and short-story craftsmanship during his twenties. Edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, the foremost expert on Fitzgerald, the annotated and illustrated collection reproduces period artwork--including magazine illustrations, advertisements, and photographs--that provides a rich contextual backdrop for understanding the ways American life shaped Fitzgerald's fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570033711
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	07/01/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	588
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.25(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Matthew J. Bruccoli (1931-2008) was the Emily Brown Jefferies Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the University of South Carolina and the leading authority on the House of Scribner and its authors. He was the editorial director of the Dictionary of Literary Biography and the author or editor of some one hundred books.

Date of Birth:

September 24, 1896

Date of Death:

December 21, 1940

Place of Birth:

St. Paul, Minnesota

Education:

Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

Fitzgerald's continued popularity remains nothing short of remarkable, although much of his literary reputation rests on Gatsby's impeccably tailored shoulders. But Fitzgerald made his money on short stories, and this volume collects his initial 26 pieces, most of which first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. Laying the stories end to end, one can see the progression Fitzgerald made as a writer leading up to the construction of his first masterpiece. The stories also include the original illustrations (56 in all) as well as reproductions of manuscript pages, ads, magazine covers, and tables of contents, plus explanatory notes and other goodies provided by editor Bruccoli, the world's foremost authority on Fitzgerald. Though these stories are available in separate collections, having them spliced together makes this a worthy purchase for all libraries. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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