~F. Scott Fitzgerald~
A Great American Author
____________________________________________1896-1940___________________________________________
Biography Summary
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is a very famous american author who wrote the extremely famous and world-renowned book, The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is thought to be the greatest book of the 20th century, but some people believe that its the greatest book ever written. When Fitzgerald attended Princeton University he wrote pieces for musicals. Fitzgerald later joined the army and after fighting he was stationed at an army base where he met his wife. He moved to France in an attempt to spark his creativity, and a week later he wrote his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby.He wrote many stories for a magazine called "The Saturday Evening Post", which contributed to most of his wealth. He and his wife Zelda were always drinking alcohol and partying. The reason why they drank so much alcohol is because prohibition made it illegal which in turn, made it more popular or "the thing". Zelda started to go crazy and was put into an institution which caused Fitzgerald to become more depressed. He then moved to Hollywood to write screenplays for some quick money in order to publish more novels.He was halfway through his last novel, The Last Tycoon, when he died of a heat attack. His high consumption of alcohol caused him to have liver damage and is said to contribute to his early death at age 44.
The cover of Fitzgerald's greatest work, The Great Gatsby, can be seen above. This book is world-renowned.
Mini BIO - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Modern Day Comparison
Fitzgerald is very unique and hard to compare to modern day writers.Stephen Chbosky,however, has some similar traits to Fitzgerald. Chbosky wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which has a similar concept to The Great Gatsby. In The Perks of Being Wallflower, a high school kid tries to fit in by partying and becoming reckless just like Fitzgerald or the character from The Great Gatsby. Another interesting fact is that both Chbosky and Fitzgerald have worked in the movie business.
Impact on American Culture
F. Scott Fitzgerald had an enormous impact on society and literature. His novels were a great contribution to American literature. Some novels such as The Great Gatsby are known as classics and are required to read by many different schools. The Influence for his writing came from his wife, aspiration, the culture of the 1920's and alcohol. His book, The Great Gatsby, inspired many other writers to write their own books. The book had a great impact on literature because his writing was phenomenal, and influenced new writing styles to American literature. The word "Gatsby" was used more frequently by many people after the book was published, but does not exist in most current dictionaries. It was used to describe very wealthy people who often liked to party. However, the word "Gatsbyesque" is some dictionaries. As previously stated, Fitzgerald was mainly influenced by the culture of the 1920's. In the 1920's boundaries were being pushed, people were being reckless, everyone was drinking despite prohibition, and many people were partying. Fitzgerald was even kicked out of Princeton because he was partying so much and was receiving extremely low grades. He was a gatsby himself as well. He and his wife Zelda drank and partied constantly. Like someone who is described as a gatsby, Fitzgerald wanted to live the luxurious lifestyle. Fitzgerald in turn influenced the culture of the 1920's as well. People started to party more and more and more people were described as gatsby like. Fitzgerald essentially embodied the 1920's.