The Great Gatsby
Unabridged Original Classic Edition
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This unabridged edition is not an electronic scan or reproduction. The original classic text has been formatted and edited by human editors. We have used a non-serif font, spacing between paragraphs, and no justification on the right margin in keeping with the current guidelines for readability in print books. We have used a 12-point font size to make reading this volume much easier on the eyes than typical “trade” paperback editions. Additionally, we have not inserted blank pages or large whitespaces before chapter headings to reduce the consumption of resources.
Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, “The Great Gatsby” (1925) depicts the interactions of first-person narrator Nick Carraway with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby’s obsessive pursuit of a reunion with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.
Inspired by a youthful romance Fitzgerald had with wealthy socialite Ginevra King and the wildly excessive indulgence of the parties he attended on Long Island’s North Shore in 1922, Fitzgerald submitted a draft of the novel in 1924. Legendary book editor Maxwell Perkins persuaded Fitzgerald to make substantial revisions to the work. After making major revisions, Fitzgerald was satisfied with the text but had doubts about the book’s title and considered and suggested several alternatives. Perkins finally persuaded him to title the book “The Great Gatsby”. Painter Francis Cugat’s striking art for the now-iconic original dust jacket, named “Celestial Eyes”, was shown to Fitzgerald while working on the extensive revisions. Impressed, Fitzgerald incorporated its imagery into the novel.
After its publication April 1925, The Great Gatsby received generally favorable reviews, though some literary critics believed it was inferior to Fitzgerald’s previous works and found much of the story “implausible”. Both Fitzgerald and his long-time friend Ernest Hemingway insisted that these critics failed to understand the work, which was intended to representational rather than realistic.
Compared to his earlier novels, This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922), the novel was a commercial disappointment, selling fewer than 20,000 copies by October. Fitzgerald’s hopes of a financial windfall from the novel were frustrated, and his career and life began a downward trajectory. When the author died in 1940, he believed himself to be a failure and his work forgotten.
When “The Great Gatsby” was included in a collection of paperback novels distributed free to service members during WW II, Fitzgerald received renewed attention and popularity, followed by critical acclaim, and is now regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary masterpiece and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel.
The work soon became a common part of the American high school curriculum and a part of American popular culture. Numerous stage and film adaptations followed, and the work continues to attract popular and scholarly attention. Scholars emphasize the novel’s treatment of social class, inherited versus self-made wealth, and its cynical attitude towards societal values.
Product details
Publisher: S. M. Holden, Independently published (September 23, 2024)
Language: English
Paperback: 211 pages
ISBN: 979-8340039705
Item Weight: 13.4 ounces
Dimensions: 6 x 0.48 x 9 inches
List Price: $10.97
