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| The Beautiful and Damned | 
| Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: Pocket
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.35
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Avg. Customer Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 238289
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0743451503
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780743451505
ASIN: 0743451503
Publication Date: July 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: GREAT BUY!Brand New From US Distributor! WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3,500,000 BOOKS SOLD!!! OVER ~ 600,000 FEEDBACKS ~ POSTED!!!
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| Customer Reviews:
 some of the greatest liturature May 19, 2005
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
fitgerald describes things so well and in such a light that after a while is contagous. i read the great gatby a couple years ago and didnt remember being greatly interested but i love this book. i recommend it more for the way the author writes then the mere plot.
Having it all Can Ultimately End in Having Nothing! January 22, 2005
8 out of 34 found this review helpful
To begin with, I need to say that this is no "Great Gatsby." Having said that, I will give my opinion of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, "The Beautiful and the Damned." It is a very good example of two lives lived without faith in God. Instead, Anthony Patch places his faith in millions he expects to inherit, while his wife has faith in the money and her beauty. It is clear that Fitzgerald writes from experience as he describes many of the struggles of becoming a writer as well as the struggle with alcoholism. Anthony Patch fully expected to inherit millions from his religiously devout uncle. His uncle disinherited him because of his immoral behavior and Anthony and Gloria end up in a desperate lawsuit throughout the book, hoping to change the courts initial decision. In that process, they are on a downward spiral in their relationship, relationships with friends, and their self esteem. I was reminded of the Biblical story of Job as I read the book. As Job had it all in the beginning, so did Anthony. As Job had it all taken away, so did Anthony. As Job's friends looked down upon him in his condition, so did Anthony's friends. Even Job's wife turned on him. Anthony's wife despised him as well. Then comes the difference. Job never lost faith in his God, but Anthony Patch never had faith. In the end, Job was rewarded with more blessings than he had ever had before. At the end of Anthony Patch's life, he got the blessing he had always longed for, but he was too far gone to enjoy it. I found it sad and depressing at times but it is worth the read. It's a look into the life of Fitzgerald and the age of World War I. It also reminds us that we can have all the world's goods and still have nothing, if we have ignored God in this life.
An authentic tragedy September 1, 2004
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
Highly recommended. Extremely compelling. Still relevant today although first published 80 years ago. A truly remarkable and memorable book.
For me reading great fiction is a bit like holding a mirror up to life. In some characters I see parts of myself and in other characters I see parts of other people in my life. With good fiction the characters are so vividly drawn that they seem real. You get to know them and sometimes you like them and sometimes you don't, but they're always believable and you can identify with their emotions and choices in life. For me that's the sort of book this is - and much much more.
The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic portrayal of a 1920s society enamored with beauty and wealth (I told you it was still relevant today). The novel traces the gradual downfall of Anthony Patch and his wife Gloria. When we first meet Anthony he is young, well educated and wealthy. Thanks to the generous allowance he receives from his wealthy Grandfather he doesn't have to work and instead spends his days lunching, philosophizing and drinking with his friends while he plans his entry into working life - perhaps as a statesman; perhaps as a writer. Life is a series of Broadway plays and extravagant meals. Nice for some.
When Anthony meets the beautiful, flirty and narcissistic Gloria he falls hopelessly in love. After a wonderful courtship they marry and the party really begins. While they wait for Anthony's Grandfather to die and pass his millions on to them, the young couple enjoy an endless string of parties, traveling and extravagance.
It is at about this point in the book that you begin to see a change. Up until now Fitzgerald portrays Anthony as pretentious and lazy, but generally a nice enough guy. Gloria is undoubtedly vain and selfish, but is also bubbly, fun and honest. Initially their life together is filled with optimism and breezy cheerfulness and they are undoubtedly a fun couple to be around. However, as they drink more (in particular Anthony) life begins to lose its rosy glow and we begin to see different, less pleasant parts of their personalities. Gradually at first and then faster and faster their downfall accelerates until they each face personal humiliation and suffer pathetic debacle. Believe it or not, it is actually quiet a heartbreaking story.
What makes this book so good for me is that it seems real. Anthony and Gloria (or parts of them) are people that you probably know. It all seems very believable. They make bad choices and they pay the consequences - just like real life. The supporting cast of characters that live on the edge of Anthony and Gloria's world also add a huge amount to the story. While flawed in their own ways they generally make a success of their lives.
Essentially a chronicle of alcoholic ruin, wasted opportunities and squandered talent, The Beautiful and Damned is a very compelling story. To my mind it's a first-class example of what a novel should be. A book to be savoured and enjoyed.
Abandoned People July 22, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, The Beautiful and Damned is a tour-de-force of despair....but don't let that stop you from reading it.
What begins as a sweet and involving love story quickly spirals downward into the depths of alcoholic misery....
If ever there were two people in need of a good AA meeting, it's Anthony Patch and Gloria Gilbert. Meeting as teens by a mutual friend/cousin, Anthony is immediately taken, as are most boys who cross her path, with the beautiful Gloria. Fervently pursuing her, he becomes despondent when she eventually rebuffs his overtures, as she does with all her suitors. But Anthony perseveres, and discovers the truth, that Gloria is indeed in love with him. They marry, with all the best wishes of their friends and family.
Too tidy, of course, as this is where life takes some very unfortunate turns for the happy couple...
Anthony comes from a background of early 20th century privilege...having been raised by his wealthy Grandfather. Subsisting on a more than generous allotment while in school, Anthony receives one of the best educations that can be afforded to a person. Gloria, groomed and poised, is the perfect debutante....flirty, but never overly so...dignified, but not above an occasional drinking binge, and the object of many a boys' affections.
The ongoing party that envelopes the Patch's and their friends becomes a way of life for Anthony and Gloria, and their all-encompassing love becomes a nightmare of co-dependency and over-indulgence. Relying on Anthony's cache of bonds as income, when they continually overspend on their endless nightlife...neither ever engages in a worthwhile profession. Their love of one another turns bitter, resentful, passive-aggressive, and abusive, as they lavish affection on the bottle more and more.
Three quarters of this book reads like an AA sponsor testimonial for 'how not to live'....and is very engrossing. A hoped-for inheritance that meets with delay after delay; a stint in the service, as America enters World War 1; an affair to forget; and an aborted attempt at a movie career highlight the downhill run of Anthony and Gloria Patch.
An excellent read. Frequently humorous, though covering many dark topics, well-realized in regards to characterization and continuity....The Beautiful and Damned is an excellent portrait in black of what a 'privileged life' can also be like.
VERY TOUCHING, VERY WELL DONE April 10, 2004
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
"It is seven thirty on an August evening. The windows in the living room of the gray house are wide open patiently exchanging the tainted inner atmosphere of liquor and smoke for the fresh drowsiness of the late hot dusk. There are dying flower scents upon the air, so thin, so fragile, as to hint already of a summer laid away in time."
This is the story of a young couple Anthony and Gloria Patch living out their days to the hilt in New York City as they await the death of Anthony's grandfather, Adam Patch from whom they expect to inherit his massive fortune.
Gloria is a spoilt child from Kansas City turned into a sophisticated and most beautiful woman. Gloria does not intend to lift a finger to do any domestic work in the home, no matter how slight; while Anthony who considers himself an aesthete, finds it quite hard to get his act together and instead of buckling down to some work, prefers instead to hang with his wife and their friends on nightly binges. They drink and eat in the classiest restaurants and hotels, rent the most expensive apartments, travel out to the West in the spring time driving plush cars, wearing top-of-the-line clothing and just generally living it up high on the hog, as they wait.
Meet Maury Noble who is Anthony best friend who spends his time between New York and Philadelphia; Richard Caramel who has just completed writing a book and looking for new ideas for a second one. Joseph Bloeckman from Munich who started out small in America and is now a big shot in Show Biz. Also the quiet Jewess Rachael Barnes and Muriel Kane who is young, flirtatious and sometimes a bit too talkative and Tana the Japanese housekeeper of the Patches.
We are shown the Patches at their very best as the novel starts, with the world at their feet and loaded with cash with which they make very expensive choices. But, as we get further in, we see things begin to change gradually and we realize that those very choices will be their very downfall. It was quite a good read but it could be very heartbreaking at times as we put ourselves into the shoes of the main characters. All lovers of F. Scott Fitzgerald should read this book if you haven't done so already, and those of you who like reading about the ultra rich in the Roaring Twenties this one is for you. It is the kind of book that you feel you will want to read again. It is that good and I shall miss it.
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 10/04/04)
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