It has been called the great American novel, the single most taught literary novel in schools worldwide. It is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 classic The Great Gatsby. While hundreds of studies of Gatsby have been published since its appearance nearly 85 years ago, only Matthew Bruccoli’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference (2000) can lay claim to being an all-encompassing guidebook to the classic novel.
Only Guide Dedicated to a Single American Novel
In fact, according to the introduction, Bruccoli’s guide is the only reference book dedicated to any single work of American literature. In 325 pages, Bruccoli (1931-2008), the preeminent authority on Fitzgerald, covers every conceivable detail of The Great Gatsby, it’s composition, reception, and reputation.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference is not an analysis of the famous novel (although by necessity it does address various themes, characterizations, etc), but rather a sort of scrapbook of clippings, letters, photos, reviews, and just about anything else that relates to the novel and its various incarnations in the past eight decades.
Much of what made this book possible is the fact that Matthew Bruccoli, who was an English professor at the University of South Carolina for nearly 30 years and his wife Arlyn had, over the years, amassed the largest collection of Fitzgerald memorabilia and ephemera anywhere. A majority of the photos, letters, book jackets, posters and other illustrations that add a great deal to the book come directly from their collection.
Bruccoli's Gatsby Guide Covers Background, Writing, Reception & Reputation
The book is logically divided into four main sections, chronologically revealing the novel: it backgrounds, the writing of the novel, its reception, and reputation. The first section might be of the most interest to readers who’ve always wanted to know more. Was Gatsby’s mansion based on a real Long Island dwelling? Did Scott and Zelda attend parties like those wildly lavish affairs detailed in the novel?
The second and longest section of the book deals with the writing of The Great Gatsby. It may be of particular interest to scholars and especially writers, as it details the painstaking editorial depths to which Fitzgerald and editor Maxwell Perkins reached in order to create a book that was ultimately seen as an exemplary model of structural precision.
Section three contains dozens of contemporary reviews some of which recognized the leaps Fitzgerald had made from his first two novels to this, his third, but many of which certainly did not. Even though we have the benefit of decades of Gatsby’s mounting reputation, still, it’s hard to swallow a review that declares it "Fitzgerald's Latest Dud." This section also gives us some insight as what an art form book reviews once were.
Finally, the last section of Bruccoli’s reference covers all the various stage performances, foreign versions, and films that The Great Gatsby became, including a wonderful gallery of posters. The book also includes the most extensive Fitzgerald bibliography assembled, one of Bruccoli’s pet projects.
Matthew J. Bruccoli’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference is not only an invaluable tool for American literature scholars and students of Fitzgerald and his “greatest” work, but an intriguing scrapbook of the Great American Novel.
Bruccoli, Matthew J. F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference, 2000, Carroll & Graf,New York. 325 Pages. (ISBN:0-7867-0996-0).
Dale Van Every - Dale Van Every is a freelance and fiction writer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He earned his Masters Degree in English Literature from ...
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