Gatsby: The Book

The Great Gatsby was published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1925. It was Fitzgerald's 3rd novel (following This Side of Paradise, 1920 and The Beautiful and Damned, 1922). His editor at Scribner's was the legendary Maxwell Perkins who had a great influence on not only Fitzgerald's writing career but those of several other authors of the time including Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe. In recent years the book has been often called "The Great American Novel" and is listed second on Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the Twentieth Century. However, at the time of Fitzgerald's death in 1940, the book had only sold 25,000 copies in its 15 years in publication. It now sells over 500,000 copies annually with e-book sales alone in 2012 reaching 185,000. 

As the summer progresses, additional posts will be added focusing on specific themes and devices within the book. Please feel free to record your impressions of the book or post questions you may have at any time.