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| The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald | 
| Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
Buy New: $23.00
You Save: $17.00 (43%)
New (23) from $23.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 114918
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 800
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.6
ISBN: 0684842505
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780684842509
ASIN: 0684842505
Publication Date: April 15, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Today, F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for his novels, but in his lifetime, his fame stemmed from his prolific achievement as one of America's most gifted (and best-paid) writers of stories and novellas. In The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew J. Bruccoli, the country's premier Fitzgerald scholar and biographer, assembles a sparkling collection that encompasses the full scope of Fitzgerald's short fiction. The forty-three masterpieces range from early stories that capture the fashion of the times to later ones written after the author's fabled crack-up, which are sober reflections on his own youthful excesses. Included are classic novellas, such as "The Rich Boy," "May Day," and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," as well as a remarkable body of work he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post and its sister "slicks." These stories can be read as an autobiographical journal of a great writer's career, an experience deepened by the illuminating introductory headnotes that Matthew Bruccoli has written for each story, placing it in its literary and biographical context.Together, these forty-three stories compose a vivid picture of a lost era, but their brilliance is timeless. As Malcolm Cowley once wrote, "Fitzgerald remains an exemplar and archetype, but not of the 1920s alone; in the end he represents the human spirit in one of its permanent forms." This essential collection is ample testament to that statement, and a monument to the genius of one of the great voices in the history of American literature.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 F Scott Fitzawesome January 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
F Scott Fitzgerald is the greatest American author of the 20th Century. It's easy to see why with this collection of short stories. What I enjoy best about this book is seeing the experimentation of Fitzgerald's writing from one story to the next. It's fun to see the literary and thematic chances that he took as his career progressed. You should buy this book.
 Deadline Looming.... July 23, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
It was, after all, the Great Cham, Samuel Johnson, who said that "Nobody but a blockhead ever wrote for anything but money"-I don't believe this is true. I don't even believe Johnson that "harmless drudge" as he describes himself in the dictionary he spent several unrewarded years compiling believed it either. But it does, anent Fitzgerald and his stories, as comprised in this book, come to mind. Simply put, Fitzgerald was a much better short story writer than a novelist. Indeed, one can argue that Fitzgerald was not a novelist at all and was, as he described himself, a writer who wanted to "preach at people." In any event, the Johnsonian dictum cited above seems to apply to Fitzgerald: He wrote much better when under some pecuniary deadline than otherwise. I am not so much concerned here as to whether "Fitzgerald" was a "great" writer or not. But he was certainly no Keats or Shelley, as one reviewer eulogizes.
There is a gossamer quality to Fitzgerald's prose that, it seems to me, is mistaken for lyricism. Pick up any page of Fitzgerald's contemporary, Thomas Wolfe, (specifically Look Homeward, Angel) and you'll see the difference. -What this lightness of touch amounts to in his novels and stories, for the most part, is that the characters come off as two-dimensional, and when Scott tries to delve deeper for what he called "psychological moments" or whatever, the reader is left with a gracefully penned alternative two-dimensional figure. It's quite frustrating. ----All this is to say, though I'm not a great fan of Fitzgerald's writing, some of these stories are worth any reader's while, and I shall list them:
"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" p.25
"Dice, Brassknuckles & Guitar" p.237
"Love In The Night" p.302
"A Short Trip Home" p.372
"The Swimmers" p.495
"A New Leaf" p.634
"Afternoon of An Author" p.734
"The Lost Decade" p.747
These stories stand out for one of two reasons, they lack the strain put on the reader by the gossamer sketching described above, or, for a few of them, Fitzgerald actually manages to pull it off - a powerful or haunting story touching the human condition.
Sorry, F. Scott acolytes, but only three stars for these pearls amidst the Period-Writing paste.
Beautiful writing July 13, 2003
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
The use of language doesn't get much better than this. Each sentence is a work of art and a pleasure to read. I smile as I read. The stories themselves are so clearly placed in a post-WWI setting that they are a glimpse into life in the 1920's - as, I believe, Fitgerald wanted to show. Also, to me, any Fitgerald work edited or or explained by Matthew Bruccoli is informative & interesting.
The above, though, is to those who like Fitzgerald. To me, his is special beyond many other authors' writing. If you've never enjoyed his work before, this book won't change that. If you've never read anything by Fitzgerald, I would suggest starting with "The Great Gatsby."
Fitzgerald's Stories--Short and Sweet September 27, 2002
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote tons of stories during his lifetime--something around 134, total. This book, however, contains the most elite chunk of those writings. To start, "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is one of Fitzgerald's most-read stories. I have read it myself, but have found better ones. "The Ice Palace", for instance, has a remarkable ability to make its readers walk away saying "I relate to this!". "May Day", my personal favorite, is about people on top sinking to the bottom, and people on the bottom sinking lower. At least, that's the abridged summary, there's alot more to it then that. "Winter Dreams" is another winner, but I liked "May Day" better. All of his stories generally pertain to Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby". In other words, they all contain that one character desperately searching for the missing piece of the puzzle. That can be either the one element that would make his/her life complete, or launch it in a different direction. Why does he do this so well? Because this theme is partially autobiographical. Fitzgerald started off at Princeton where he made hardly any friends. Then he moved on to the Southern US when he joined the army. This is where he met Zelda. But Zelda did not want to marry him due to his lack of money. So Fitzgerald began writing in persuit of the dollar to support Zelda. His plan worked and he was a big success...for a while. Then he moved, in despiration, to Europe in order to gain a better status. This didn't work either and he ended up dying in Hollywood at age 40. His wife, Zelda, went mad and was institutionalized a few years prior. This should be kept in mind as you read his short stories, there are definate parallels!
A wonderful, quick read December 4, 2001
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I've read almost all of F Scott Fitzgerald's work and I was delighted to find this compelation of short stories. I read this book alomst four years ago and I can still remember the characters and details of each story - my favorite was Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Try it out and you will not be dissapointed!
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