Library of America presents the definitive novel of the Jazz Age in an authoritative new text—along with a quartet of brilliant stories that explore variations on the theme of desperate longing for an unattainable someone or something
Boats against the current, we are borne back ceaselessly to
The Great Gatsby
. Its unforgettable characters—the conflicted narrator Nick Carraway, the golden girl Daisy Buchanan, and the mysterious Jay Gatsby—its indelible symbols and soaring prose, and its large themes of money, class, and American optimism have an enduring fascination and make
a frequent candidate for “the Great American novel.”
Now readers can experience F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece in an edition that brings us closest to his original vision for the work. Drawn from the authoritative Library of America edition of Fitzgerald’s collected writings, this deluxe paperback presents a new, corrected text of
by preeminent Fitzgerald scholar James L. W. West III, incorporating emendations the author made on galley proofs and in his personal copy of the book.
Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is joined here by four contemporary stories—the “Gatsby cluster”—in which he explores variations on the theme of desperate longing for an unattainable someone or something: “Winter Dreams,” “The Rich Boy,” “Absolution,” and “Rags Martin-Jones and the Pr-nce of W-les.” Essential reading for fans of the novel, these, too, are presented in newly corrected texts.
Rounding out this special edition is a selection of thirteen letters between Fitzgerald and Maxwell Perkins, his editor at Scribner’s, about the composition, editing, and publication of
, offering a fascinating glimpse into the genesis of an American classic. Other features include a preface by the editor, a detailed chronology of Fitzgerald’s life and career, and helpful explanatory and textual notes.