Scott Fitzgerald: A Biography

by Jeffrey Meyers

Overview

Scott Fitzgerald, a romantic and tragic figure who embodied the decades between the two world wars, was a writer who took his material almost entirely from his life. Despite his early success with The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald battled against failure and disappointment.

This book, by the acclaimed biographer of Hemingway, is the first to analyze frankly the meaning as well as the events of Fitzgerald's life and to illuminate the recurrent patterns that reveal his inner self. Meyers emphasizes Fitzgerald's alcoholism, Zelda's illnesses and her doctors, Fitzgerald's love affairs both before and after her breakdown, and his wide-ranging friendships, from the polo star Tommy Hitchcock to the Hollywood executive Irving Thalberg. His writer friends included Ring Lardner, John Dos Passos, James Joyce, Edith Wharton, and Dorothy Parker. His friend and lifelong hero, Ernest Hemingway, was a harsh critic of both his behavior and his novels, but Fitzgerald accepted this with remarkable humility. Meyers portrays the volatile connection between these two writers and Fitzgerald's marriage to the schizophrenic Zelda with insight and poignancy. Meyers also discusses Fitzgerald's fascinating relationship with his daughter, Scottie. Exercising a fine critical balance, he details Fitzgerald's weaknesses but ultimately reveals a man capable of fierce loyalty and great moral courage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062316950
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey Meyers, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, has written fifty-two books, including Samuel Johnson: The Struggle, The Genius and the Goddess: Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, Orwell: Life and Art, John Huston: Courage and Art, Remembering Iris Murdoch, and Thomas Mann's Artist-Heroes. His books have been translated into fourteen languages and seven alphabets, and published on six continents.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Preface xv

1 St. Paul and the Newman School, 1896-1913 1

2 Princeton, 1913-1917 22

3 The Army and Zelda, 1917-1919 38

4 This Side of Paradise and Marriage, 1920-1922 63

5 The Beautiful and Damned and Great Neck, 1922-1924 96

6 Europe and The Great Gatsby, 1924-1925 123

7 Paris and Hemingway, 1925-1926 150

8 Ellerslie and France, 1927-1930 191

9 Madness, 1930-1932 219

10 La Paix and Tender Is the Night, 1932-1934 255

11 Asheville and "The Crack-Up," 1935-1937 284

12 The Garden of Allah and Sheilah Graham, 1937-1938 329

13 Hollywood Hack and The Last Tycoon, 1939-1940 356

Appendix I Poe and Fitzgerald 393

Appendix II Zelda's Illness 396

Appendix III The Quest for Bijou O'Conor 398

Notes 403

Bibliography 425

Index 429

Editorial Reviews

Meyers’s compulsively readable, marvelously vivid biography… uncovers a wealth of new details that cumulatively bring into focus a tragic figure torn between the struggle for artistic integrity and the desire to live up to his glamorous image”. — Publishers Weekly

“Marvelous—clear-sighted, humane and appreciative.” — Paul Theroux

“Meyers provides us with a dizzying number of anecdotes about Fitzgerald’s dismaying behavior, profligacy, and fear of sexual intimacy and inadequacy, but it is Meyers’ compassionate interpretation of Fitzgerald’s weaknesses and appreciation for his achievements that make this an invaluable and unforgettable portrait.” — Booklist

“[A] culmination of decades of biographical exploration....Meyers is particularly interested in those areas of Fitzgerald’s life that other biographers have not sufficiently covered.” — Toronto Star

From the Publisher

Meyers provides us with a dizzying number of anecdotes about Fitzgerald’s dismaying behavior, profligacy, and fear of sexual intimacy and inadequacy, but it is Meyers’ compassionate interpretation of Fitzgerald’s weaknesses and appreciation for his achievements that make this an invaluable and unforgettable portrait.

Booklist

[A] culmination of decades of biographical exploration....Meyers is particularly interested in those areas of Fitzgerald’s life that other biographers have not sufficiently covered.

Toronto Star

Marvelous—clear-sighted, humane and appreciative.

Paul Theroux

Meyers provides us with a dizzying number of anecdotes about Fitzgerald’s dismaying behavior, profligacy, and fear of sexual intimacy and inadequacy, but it is Meyers’ compassionate interpretation of Fitzgerald’s weaknesses and appreciation for his achievements that make this an invaluable and unforgettable portrait.

Booklist

Meyers (fellow of the Royal Society of Literature) illuminates the recurrent patterns that reveal Fitzgerald's inner self, and portrays the volatile connection between Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Meyers emphasizes Fitzgerald's alcoholism, his wife Zelda's schizophrenia, and the writer's wide-ranging friendships with important literary figures of his day. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[A] culmination of decades of biographical exploration....Meyers is particualrly interested in those areas of Fitzgerald's life that other biographers have not sufficiently covered.

The Toronto Star