Customer Reviews

AGAINST THE CURRENT: As I Remember F. Scott Fitzgerald

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This is a wonderful, unassuming narrative about the final days of F. Scott Fitzgerald which paints him as a real human being with real problems, writing immortal fiction with a dying hand. His fragility and beauty is evident, and this quick read is a must for anyone determined to learn about the real Fitzgerald.

This is a wonderful book, poignant yet revealing, just like the man it is about. Frances Kroll Ring was Fitzgerald's secretary in the last few years of his life. What she details in her memoir will enlighten anyone who has only ever thought of Fitzgerald as merely an alcoholic who just stumbled into writing. Yes, she records that he was drinking well up to his death, but he was also doing something important. He was in the middle of writing "The Last Tycoon", a work that was to be unlike his previous efforts, more mature and reflecting a different sensibility. But, as one finds out at the end of "Against the Current", he never realized his goal. The great work was left unfinished, and therefore one more tragedy closed the curtain on an already sad life.

The Los Angeles Times review got it right: This book "is like a rediscovered snapshot, bringing a legendary figure into brief, vivid focus." That snapshot also includes a perceptive young woman and her family, Fitzgerald's inner circle (Sheilah Graham, Scottie, Maxwell Perkins, and Edmund Wilson), and a slice of Los Angeles during its most creative period. Hollywood is the backdrop for this book and *The Last Tycoon*, which Fitzgerald was writing at the time, but there's no glitzy melodrama here, and Ring mostly steers clear of "the Fitzorama"--her term for the literary-industrial complex that has grown up around Fitzgerald. By telling her story simply and beautifully, she produces the vivid focus mentioned above. The book also includes reproductions of letters, notes, and telegrams composed by Scott, Zelda, Perkins, and Wilson. Highly recommended.

this short book provides insight into the personal life of F. Scott Fitzgerald from his confidential secretary. it's nicely written and a must for Fitzgerald fans...

To be featured on ShowTime-TV channel..by Henry Bromell,a Fitgerald expert-writer,(NY). It's neither a docu, nor a BioPic. Kroll's memoir, 1985..details his last frantic attempt in Hollywood-- to finish.."The Last Tycoon"...Scott died-at 44- heart attack-Dec.21,1940 after years of smoking/ drinking. His wife..Zelda is played by Sissy Spacek...who read the 1960's bio.."Zelda".
Kroll,now 85 has visited the set in Canada-where producers found Spainish-style hacienda..like Scott's in LA.