A collection of early short stories which helped make F. Scott Fitzgerald's name.
Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, opened the 66th Cannes Film Festival.
A 'Piece of Passion' from Alessandro Gallenzi on the Alma Classics editions... 'F. Scott Fitzgerald has been long a favourite of mine. Since I discovered The Great Gatsby at university, I have been avidly reading all of his work. I am particularly fond of some of his short stories, from ‘The Rich Boy’ (in All the Sad Young Men) to ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’ and ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (in Tales of the Jazz Age).
I have poured all my passion and love for Fitzgerald’s work into these stylish editions, with front-cover illustrations by Art-Deco genius Georges Barbier, flaps, pictures and a wealth of extra material. These books are a publisher’s and a fan’s tribute to one of the greatest masters of world literature.'
First published in 1922, "e;Tales of the Jazz Age"e; is a collection of 11 short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Many of the stories had appeared in magazines such as "e;Collier's"e;, "e;Vanity Fair"e;, and the "e;Saturday Evening Post"e; before they were included in this collection. Many of the themes that are found in Fitzgerald's other famous works can be found in these stories as well: the disparity between the wealthy and the poor, bad things happening to good people, strange and unique characters, and love gone bad. Included are such classics as the surprising "e;The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"e; and "e;The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"e;, considered by many to be one of his best short stories. It tells the fascinating story of a child born as an old man and who ages backwards through his life. This story, as well as others in this collection, captures the unique challenges faced by "e;the Lost Generation"e; of men and women left traumatized and disillusioned by the First World War and the tragic destruction of so many lives. Fitzgerald's mastery of the short story and his unequaled ability to capture the excitement and sadness of the early twentieth-century is on full display in "e;Tales of the Jazz Age."e; This edition includes a biographical afterword.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota, and went to Princeton University which he left in 1917 to join the army. Fitzgerald was said to have epitomised the Jazz Age, an age inhabited by a generation he defined as ‘grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken’.
In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their destructive relationship and her subsequent mental breakdowns became a major influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and The Love of the Last Tycoon (his last and unfinished work): six volumes of short stories and The Crack-Up, a selection of autobiographical pieces.
Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940. After his death The New York Times said of him that ‘He was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a “generation” … he might have interpreted them and even guided them, as in their middle years they saw a different and nobler freedom threatened with destruction.’
