Biographical Summary

F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896–December 21, 1940), American author, is one of the most celebrated American writers of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), the sad tale of moral decline among the wealthy class of 1920's America. Fitzgerald was a master of observing high society and describing its emptiness even-handedly, despite being a participant in it. His first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920), brought him fame and success, and other popular works followed: The Beautiful and Damned (1921); and two collections of short stories, Flappers and Philosophers (1920) and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). This early success contributed to the decline of his personal life and the pace of his writing, though his greatest novels, The Great Gatsby, Tender Is the Night (1934), and the unfinished The Love of the Last Tycoon (1941, published posthumously), were yet to come. He spent his final years working as a Hollywood scriptwriter.