The Great Gatsby: Success of the novel

THE GREAT GATSBY: SUCCESS OF THE NOVEL

 Published in 1925 during the Jazz Age .

 Fitzgerald’s most famous novel.

 Fitzgerald was the most famous chronicler of 1920s America.

 Widely regarded a “Great American Novel” and a literary classic.

 The setting of the novel contributes to its popularity.

 Has been adapted numerous times, in various media.

 Its themes and symbols are reasons of why the novel is still popular today.

SUCCESS UPON RELEASE

 Received mostly positive reviews.

 Fitzgerald got many letters from fellow writers praising his novel.

 The book did not get as much commercial success as Fitzgerald’s previous novels This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922).

 Less than 25,000 copies of the book were sold before Fitzgerald’s death.

FITZGERALD’S LIFE AFTER “THE GREAT GATSBY”

 With the publication of his previous novel The Side of Paradise (1920), Fitzgerald earned enough money to marry Zelda and become a literary sensation.

 His fame and fortune led him to a wild, reckless life-style of parties and decadence.

 Alcoholism hampered his writing but he published another novel, Tender Is the Night (1934), and wrote many other short stories.

 Left for Hollywood in 1937 to write screenplays, before he died of a heart attack in 1940.

“THE GREAT GATSBY” AFTER FITZGERALD’S DEATH

 The book did not receive widespread attention until after Fitzgerald’s death.

 Gatsby gained readers when Armed Services Editions gave away around 150,000 copies of the novel to the American military in World War II.

 In 1951, a biography of Fitzgerald titled The Far Side of Paradise was published by Arthur Mizener.

 By 1960s the reputation of the book was restablished.

 To date 140000 copies have been sold of this book that is studied in many schools.

REASONS TO STUDY GATSBY

 It explores themes that are of current interest, such as ambition, justice, equity, and the American dream.

 Gatsby reminds one that the dollars aren’t

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