This book charts Fitzgerald's use of racial stereotypes to encode the dual nature of his literary ambition: his desire to be on the one hand a popular American entertainer, and on the other to make his mark in an elite, international literary field.

This book charts Fitzgerald's use of racial stereotypes to encode the dual nature of his literary ambition: his desire to be on the one hand a popular American entertainer, and on the other to make his mark in an elite, international literary field.

This book provides an authoritative overview of F. Scott Fitzgerald's fiction and career, featuring essays by leading Fitzgerald specialists.

The Great Gatsby is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of American fiction. It tells of the mysterious Jay Gatsby’s grand effort to win the love of Daisy Buchanan, the rich girl who embodies for him the promise of the American dream. Deeply romantic in its concern with self-making, ideal love, and the power of illusion, it draws on modernist techniques to capture the spirit of the materialistic, morally adrift, post-war era Fitzgerald dubbed “the jazz age.” Gatsby’s aspirations remain inseparable from the rhythms and possibilities suggested by modern consumer culture, popular song, the movies; his obstacles inseparable from contemporary American anxieties about social mobility, racial mongrelization, and the fate of Western civilization. This Broadview edition sets the novel in context by providing readers with a critical introduction and crucial background material about the consumer culture in which Fitzgerald was immersed; about the spirit of the jazz age; and about racial discourse in the 1920s.

Explores many of the important social, historical and cultural contexts surrounding the life and works of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

From his first novel, This Side of Paradise, which brought him a blaze of youthful fame, to his last, unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, F. Scott Fitzgerald's appeal as one of America's most quintessential artists has continued to maintain its hold on twenty-first century readers. In this reader-friendly study of Fitzgerald's major fiction, Michael K. Glenday: - Offers new readings of the author's canonical works, including The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night - Draws on the very latest research in his reassessment of the ideas and significance of Fitzgerald's major novels - Explores the core themes of the novels, as well as their considerable contribution to the spirit and complexity of modern-day American culture Assuming no prior knowledge, this book is ideal for those seeking a lively, informed introduction to Fitzgerald's fiction, as well as those looking for fresh and original insights into his extraordinary work.

By exploring Fitzgerald's fascination with the intertwined spheres of dance, music, theatre and film, this book demonstrates how Fitzgerald innovatively imported practices from other popular cultural media into his short stories, showing how jazz age culture served as more than mere period detail in his work.