An F. Scott Fitzgerald Encyclopedia

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most challenging authors of American literature. He is known internationally as the author of The Great Gatsby (1925), a twentieth-century literary classic studied by high school students and scholars alike. But Fitzgerald was an amazingly productive writer despite numerous personal and professional difficulties. From the beginning of his literary career with the publication of This Side of Paradise in 1920 to his death in 1940, he wrote 5 novels, roughly 180 short stories, numerous essays and reviews, much poetry, several plays, and some film scripts. Even when he wrote hastily and perhaps bleary-eyed, his works almost always exhibit the flashes of his genius. He is celebrated as a symbol of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, but beneath all the glitter for which his prose is famous, he warns of the dangers of personal recklessness and praises the redemptive power of love.

Through hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries, this reference book provides complete coverage of Fitzgerald's life and writings. The volume begins with a chronology that traces his rise from obscurity to fame, his struggles with alcoholism, and his eventual financial downfall. The entries that follow give a full and detailed picture of Fitzgerald and his work. They present the essential action in Fitzgerald's novels, short stories, plays, and poems; identify all named fictional characters and indicate their significance; and give brief biographical information for Fitzgerald's family members, friends, and professional associates. Many of the entries include bibliographies which emphasize criticism published after 1990, and the volume closes with a general bibliography of the most important broad studies of Fitzgerald and his works. A thorough index and extensive cross references provide additional access to the wealth of information in this reference book and help make it a useful tool for a wide range of users.

Hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries for Fitzgerald's works, characters, family members, friends, professional associates, and acquaintances, along with a chronology and bibliographical information.

Library Journal

Into a single hefty volume, Gale (emeritus, Univ. of Pittsburgh) has compiled an extensive guide to Fitzgerald. He includes not only micro-biographies of all Fitzgerald's significant family members, friends, and acquaintances and plot summaries of all his fictions and theses of all his essays but also--in, perhaps, tedious superabundance--brief descriptions of every named human figure, both real and fictional, in all Fitzgerald's plays, Princeton Triangle Club skits, poems, short stories, and novels. Though the work is designed to be informational rather than interpretative, Gale's most interesting entries are those that do flirt with judgment as he identifies the real people on whom characters were based, briefly discusses changes in plot or character, and provides brief bibliographies. Containing cross-referencing, a brief chronology, and, at the end, a selective bibliography of the major studies of Fitzgerald, this volume holds something for nearly every reader, from the novice who wants a plot summary to the professor who has forgotten the name of Monroe Stahr's secretary from The Last Tycoon. Recommended for large academic libraries.--Charles Nash, Cottey Coll., Nevada, MO

ROBERT L. GALE is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Pittsburgh.