August 2011 Guest Editor Deborah Lawrenson on F Scott Fitzgerald...
F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is so full of exquisite prose it’s like being glutted on champagne and diamonds and fluttering silk. And it’s the contrast between the glittering words, and the lost illusions and tawdry underside of the American Dream in the 1920s that makes this such a poignant read. That and the best closing lines of any novel, ever.
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One of Giles Coren's favourite books.
A classic that captures the mood of the 1920's, the time after the great War when life was for living. Gatsby in pursuing the 'American Dream' finds, with devastating consequences, that money may not be the route to happiness.
November 2009 Guest Editor Katie Agnew on F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
Whenever I'm asked what my favourite book of all time is I never hesitate - 'The Great Gatsby'. For me there's no contest. I first read this novel at school and I've re-read it every couple of years since. I'm obsessed with it - Fitzgerald's flawless writing style, his painfully flawed characters, the deliciously decadent Jazz Age setting and, ah, that tragic ending. The story breaks my heart every time but like a moth to the flame, I can't help myself. I love it! I want to be in it! In fact, whenever I need a pseudonym, I use the name Jordan Buchanan, a character from 'The Great Gatsby'.
A survey recently named The Great Gatsby as one of the greatest fictional playboys of all time … click to find out more
| Primary Genre | Classic fiction: general and literary |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.
Young, handsome and fabulously rich, Jay Gatsby is the bright star of the Jazz Age, but as writer Nick Carraway is drawn into the decadent orbit of his Long Island mansion, where the party never seems to end, he finds himself faced by the mystery of Gatsby's origins and desires.
The Great Gatsby features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic fiction: general and literary, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Great Gatsby is available in Hardback, Paperback, Book, Ebook, CD-Audio
The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published by Everyman
The Great Gatsby has 176 pages
Yes it is part of Everyman's Library series
£12.60