About
F. Scott Fitzgerald, born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896, was an American novelist and short story writer. He attended Princeton University without graduating, then served in the army during World War I. His first novel, *This Side of Paradise* (1920), made him famous at age 24. He married Zelda Sayre in 1920; their daughter Scottie was born in 1921. Fitzgerald epitomized the Jazz Age and frequented Parisian literary circles in the 1920s. His masterpiece, *The Great Gatsby* (1925), was initially a commercial failure. Plagued by alcoholism and his wife's difficulties, he experienced a personal and professional decline, chronicled in his essays 'The Crack-Up' (1936).
* 1896-09-24 — † 1940-12-21
Major works
- This Side of Paradise (1920)novel
- The Beautiful and Damned (1922)novel
- The Great Gatsby (1925)novel
- Tender Is the Night (1934)novel
- The Last Tycoon (1941)novel
Key milestones
- 1920Publication of his first novel, *This Side of Paradise*, which made him famous.
- 1925Publication of *The Great Gatsby*, critically praised but a commercial failure.
- 1936Publication of 'The Crack-Up' essays in *Esquire*, chronicling his decline.
Themes
The Jazz AgeThe American DreamWealth and social classLove and disillusionmentPersonal decline
Sources: paw.princeton.edu · britannica.com
