October 2011 Guest Editor Philippa Gregory on F. Scott Fitzgerald...
I have just re-read this and constantly admired the economy of Fitzgerald. He can write poignant paragraphs that come out of almost nothing, as a reader you can hardly tell what he is doing, but you emerge from the novel feeling emotionally wrung. It’s the story of the most glamorous couple on the French Riviera, and slowly you understand that much of their beauty is a façade, and that even their passion is something that will pass.
It is loosely based on Fitzgerald’s own marriage to Zelda who is an interesting character in her own right and too often “written off” by biographers as the unstable wife to a genius. As this novel hints, perhaps it was far more complicated and interesting than that.
Fitzgerald's jazz-age novel of squandered youth, destructive love and the glamour of 1920s New York.'Here's to alcohol, the rose coloured glasses of life.'Anthony Patch has told his wealthy grandfather that he is writing a medieval history. But he isn't. Instead he's living a life of lazy decadence among the café society of early 1920s New York, oscillating between boredom and recklessness. When he meets Gloria, he finds a kindred spirit, and the young couple quickly fall in love. But together, they're more destructive than they were apart. Easily bored, they throw money into a glamorous and lavish lifestyle. One they can't sustain. And as they wait on Anthony's delayed inheritance, their heady world spins out of control. Because life is only a party for as long as you can afford it . . .
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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Fitzgerald's jazz-age novel of squandered youth, destructive love and the glamour of 1920s New York.'Here's to alcohol, the rose coloured glasses of life.'Anthony Patch has told his wealthy grandfather that he is writing a medieval history. But he isn't.
The Beautiful and Damned features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Paperback, Hardback. £11.69, down from the £12.99 cover price. Not Available.
The Beautiful and Damned was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published by Orion Books an imprint of Orion
The Beautiful and Damned has 464 pages
£11.69, reduced from £12.99. Not Available.
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