687 Gatsby Turns 100 (with James West)

"I want to write something new," American author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in a letter to his editor, "something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." Months later, he presented the results: the novel that would eventually be titled The Great Gatsby. Published in 1925 to middling success, the book has since become a candidate for the Great American Novel, selling more than copies in a month than the book sold during Fitzgerald's entire lifetime. In this episode, Jacke talks to Fitzgerald scholar James West about his work editing the Cambridge Centennial Edition of The Great Gatsby, which celebrates 100 years of this enduring tale of illicit desire, grand illusions, and lost dreams, delivered in lyric prose by an author writing at the peak of his powers.

Additional listening:

• 281 The Great Gatsby
• 167 F. Scott Fitzgerald
• 539 Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (with Mike Palindrome)

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com.

Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices