A Life in Letters

F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli offers a discerning sample of Fitzgerald's letters that serve as an informal biography. Fitzgerald suffered many demons. Alcoholism and poor health were the obvious problems. From reading his letters, we learn that protecting his artistic integrity also weighed heavily on him. Money problems forced him to spend time writing lightweight but commercially viable stories for magazines. This took precious time away from his major work of writing serious novels. His afflicted wife, Zelda, was another dilemma. In 1930, Zelda had her first breakdown, and never recovered. Providing for her care and treatment added to his money woes. Although Fitzgerald enjoyed early success in 1920 with "This Side of Paradise," it was short-lived. By 1924, he wrote to Edmund Wilson, "I really worked hard as hell last winter--but it was all trash and it nearly broke my heart." There was critical success in 1925 with "The Great Gatsby," but it was a financial disappointment. Fitzgerald spent the next nine years writing, revising, and agonizing over "Tender Is the Night." Contrary to hope, that book failed to restore his reputation. The letters display deep introspection, opinions on other writers, comments of manners and morals, and daily concerns of money. There are also amusing and chatty letters to his daughter, Scottie. Fitzgerald's letters to Scribner's Maxwell Perkins and his literary agent, Harold Ober, are the most interesting, and reveal much of his concerns and ideas. Letters written to Zelda in the sanitarium are generally tender and loving, but occasionally they are cross and complaining. The book stops with a letter written to Scottie shortly before Fitzgerald's death in December 1940. Recommended reading for F. Scott Fitzgerald fans. ;-)

This is the sort of book that makes one long for the days prior to-email, when people actually wrote letters to one another and correspondence other than bills and junk mail filled one's mailbox. The book is a valuable supplement to Fitzgerald's many biographies; his letters reveal a remarkable clarity and self-awareness. My heart ached after reading some of them. A must read for all Fitzgerald historians. I do recommend reading one of Fitzgerald's many biographies prior to reading his letters, as it is a fascinating exercise comparing Fitzgerald's interpretation/rationalization of an event with a third party's.

If you want to gain insight into the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald then seek no further. This amazing compilation of Fitzgerald's correspondences to family, friends, business associates and acquaintances portrays the man and the writer in a way no biographer could imagine. In his letters can be clearly seen Fitzgerald the literary genius, Fitzgerald the loving husband and father as well as Fitzgerald the sycophant and Fitzgerald the tortured and insecure neurotic.The genesis and the demise of one of the most fascinating men of his time eloquently presented in his own words.