Tender is the Night (The Complete Classics) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9626344571 | ISBN-13: 978-9626344576 | Publication Date: February 2, 2010 | Edition: Unabridged

When the young and naïve Rosemary Hoyt comes to the French Riviera in the 1920s she is bedazzled by the glamorous lifestyles of Dick and Nicole Diver and their high-society set. Yet, beneath this polished veneer, the lives of the Divers are fraught with complexity and anxiety. As their mysterious, problematic past resurfaces, the struggle to keep up appearances takes its toll, and their seemingly perfect lives begin to deteriorate with alarming rapidity. Overflowing with descriptive brilliance and lyrical power, Tender is the Night is also remarkable for the strong autobiographical element to the story. In depicting Dick and Nicole Diver, Fitzgerald clearly explores his own tempestuous relationship with his schizophrenic but brilliant wife Zelda.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

You can generally count on Naxos to produce superb audios of classics--but not this time. Trevor White gives a dull performance, though he handles conversation and dialogue better than straight narration and is not bad at accents. His emphases are stilted; he drops his voice at the ends of most sentences; and he reads every word so carefully he throws off the rhythms and phrasing, and thus the tone and meaning. A disappointing reading of Fitzgerald's last, most lyrical, most autobiographical novel. (Aug.) (c)
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Review

On the 1920s Riviera the rich and hedonistic disport themselves, drawn by the brilliance and promise of Dr Dick Diver and his fragile wife, Nicole. No one is more infatuated than Rosemary, the beautiful young starlet who will become the main force in Dick's eventual destruction. There's a timelessness about the vacuity of this soulless set that makes the whole dismal story a powerful fable for our times, made totally convincing by the finely nuanced narration. - Rachel Redford, The Observer F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1934 Tender is the Night was his last and most painfully conceived novel. Based on personal experience (the schizophrenia of his wife, Zelda, his affair with a Hollywood actress and the time they spent in Paris, Switzerland and on the Cote d'Azur), it is a sad but hauntingly beautiful exploration of the way in which a needy person leaches the spirit out of a strong one. Dick and his wife Nicole seem to be the most glamorous of couples, but gradually the tragic secrets of their past emerge. Trevor White reads with subtly shifting pace and complete command. - Christina Hardyment, The Times

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Product Details

• Audio CD: 1 pages
• Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks; Unabridged edition (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9626344571
• ISBN-13: 978-9626344576
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,524,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Coralie Bickford-Smith cover art!, March 7, 2011

By 

Sara Burton (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tender is the Night (Hardcover)

I purchased all six of these books from the Canadian Amazon website (amazon.ca) several weeks ago because I couldn't bear to wait any longer for them to show up on the American site.

The covers are just gorgeous. The art is metallic and beautiful and the covers have a soft feel to them. The inside flap of the cover is perforated and is designed to be removed and used as a matching bookmark.

The cover art for this set of F. Scott Fitzgerald books was designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith - the genius behind the similarly beautiful Penguin cloth-bound classics series. Not only is the literature itself classic, but the books look like a classic collector's item as well! Friends compliment me on them all the time when they see them on my bookcase!

Unlike another reviewer, I have no issue with the text in my copies. It is clear and dark throughout, and definitely doesn't look faded or photocopied. Also, I can confirm that the introductions to the other Fitzgeralds in the series are written by different authors than the author of the introduction to Tender is the Night.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice wrapping, but...., March 2, 2011

By 

Moira D. Russell (Seattle, WA, US) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tender is the Night (Hardcover)

Beautifully packaged and designed -- one in a series of Fitzgerald books covered by Coralie Bickford-Smith -- but the print is oddly misshapen and faint at times, as if it were photocopied, and this has one of the worst introductions to Fitzgerald's work I've ever read, by Arnold Goldman. His notes aren't any good either. I was thinking about picking up all the books in this series, but until I can determine if the rest of the introductions are as bad (which I can't do on Amazon) I'm going to hold off.