Product Description

A masterpiece, a dazzling social satire, and a milestone in twentieth-century literature, THE GREAT GATSBY peels away the layers of the glamorous twenties to display the coldness and cruelty at its heart. Everybody who is anybody is seen at the glittering parties held in Gatsby's mansion in West Egg, east of New York. The riotous throng congregates in his sumptuous garden, coolly debating Gatsby's origins and mysterious past. None of the frivolous socialites understand him and among various onlookers, Gatsby is oblivious to the speculation he creates, but seems always to be watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. But as the tragic story unfolds, Gatsby's destructive dreams and passions are revealed ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #308038 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author
F Scott Fitzgerald was born in Minnesota in 1896. He was said to have epitomized the Jazz Age, which he himself denied emphatically. In the 1920s he married Zelda Sayre. Their traumatic marriage and subsequent breakdowns became the leading influencein his writing, which included TENDER IS THE NIGHT, and THE LAST TYCOON (his last, unfinished work), plus six volumes of short stories. He died suddenly in 1940.

Customer Reviews

A haunting novel from a marvellous writer.
Fitzgerald's most famous work is a totally absorbing story with fascinating characters that keeps you gripped from first page to last. Although his very descriptive prose can be slightly difficult, it nonetheless adds great beauty. It is the type of book you may have to read twice or three times before its greatness may become apparent, as it does seem rather slight the first time around, given its reputation. But, no matter what, this haunting and memorable tale will stay with you. Definitely a classic, and a book everyone should experience.

The other side of the American Dream
"The Great Gatsby" is a tale of a man (Jay Gatsby)endeavouring to win back a lost love. We follow the enigmatic Gatsby in his quest during a story of infidelity and bereavement, which will move you and sometimes shock you.

Fitzgerald paints a wonderful picture though of 1920's America, but like Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", shows that the American Dream did not become reality for all.

A story of facade, love and deception
Who is Jay Gatsby, the mysterious millionaire who's parties light up the night on the placid little isalnd of West Egg. Seldom seen, his gatherings are legendary. Nick Carraway his erstwhile neighbour and bond dealer is drawn inexorably into his glittering orbit.

This is a tale of facade, love and deception and how you can never recreate the past. In the centre of it all is Jay Gatsby and his doomed romance with the shallow Daisy Buchanan.

Fitzgerald has in this his greatest book produced a masterpiece comparable with anything else in English literature. Read it not just for the riveting story, but also for the beauty of the language employed and the chance of being part of, for however briefly, a vanished world.