May Day (Dodo Press) [Paperback]

F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 24, 2008

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was an Irish American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. He was the self-styled spokesman of the “Lost Generation” - Americans born in the 1890’s who came of age during World War I. He finished four novels, left a fifth unfinished, and wrote dozens of short stories. The 1920’s proved the most influential decade of Fitzgerald’s development. His debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920) examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Flappers and Philosophers (1920) was his first collection of short stories. His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), demonstrates an evolution and maturity in his writing, and provides an excellent portrait of America during the Jazz Age, as does Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). The Great Gatsby, which many consider his masterpiece, was published in 1925. It has since been adapted for the theatre and filmed several times. His last novel was Tender is the Night (1934).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I wanted them all, even those I'd already read."
—Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Observer

"Small wonders."
—Time Out London

"[F]irst-rate…astutely selected and attractively packaged…indisputably great works."
—Adam Begley, The New York Observer

"I’ve always been haunted by Bartleby, the proto-slacker. But it’s the handsomely minimalist cover of the Melville House edition that gets me here, one of many in the small publisher’s fine 'Art of the Novella' series."
—The New Yorker

"The Art of the Novella series is sort of an anti-Kindle. What these singular, distinctive titles celebrate is book-ness. They're slim enough to be portable but showy enough to be conspicuously consumed—tiny little objects that demand to be loved for the commodities they are."
—KQED (NPR San Francisco)

"Some like it short, and if you're one of them, Melville House, an independent publisher based in Brooklyn, has a line of books for you... elegant-looking paperback editions ...a good read in a small package."
—The Wall Street Journal --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1896, the son of a salesman, and namesake of his distant relative, Francis Scott Key. While attending Princeton University, he wrote a novel that a Scribner’s editor thought good enough to publish, if Fitzgerald would revise it. Fitzgerald, however, was in academic trouble and left school to join the army. Stationed in Alabama, he met and proposed marriage to Zelda Sayre, who refused to marry him until his rewritten novel, This Side of Paradise, made him an irresistible success. Two years later, the Fitzgeralds were leading a furious, booze-fueled social life, and his story collection of 1922, Tales of the Jazz Age, gave the era its name. In 1925, while sojourning in France—where he befriended Ernest Hemingway—he wrote The Great Gatsby. But his relationship with Zelda grew destructive, and by 1932 she was in a mental institution and he had descended into alcoholism. Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood to work as a scriptwriter, and died there of a heart attack in 1940.  --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 76 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (October 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140994378X
• ISBN-13: 978-1409943785
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

More About the Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the major American writers of the twentieth century -- a figure whose life and works embodied powerful myths about our national dreams and aspirations. Fitzgerald was talented and perceptive, gifted with a lyrical style and a pitch-perfect ear for language. He lived his life as a romantic, equally capable of great dedication to his craft and reckless squandering of his artistic capital. He left us one sure masterpiece, The Great Gatsby; a near-masterpiece, Tender Is the Night; and a gathering of stories and essays that together capture the essence of the American experience. His writings are insightful and stylistically brilliant; today he is admired both as a social chronicler and a remarkably gifted artist.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars slim and slight, August 12, 2011

By 

adorian - See all my reviews

This review is from: May Day (The Art of the Novella) (Paperback)

It is 1919. The troops have returned from WWI. Some of them are partying in Manhattan, but not partying as much as the college boys in town for some kicks. This novella is not very engaging. The class differences are a little too obvious. The resentments about who has money and who doesn't are at the forefront. Fitzgerald uses a lot of trendy slang that must have popped and sizzled back in the Roaring 20s, but which left me wondering, "Did young people really say that back then?" The only way I got through this was to envision it as an hour-long drama on PBS...with everyone drinking and dancing the Charleston. This was a very quick read...and not very satisfying. Yes, the action scenes are vivid, but the dialogue was of another era, and the characters did not make me want to spend time with them.