This Side of Paradise (novel)

This Side of Paradise was F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, published in 1920. The novel is a character study and quest, starring the romantic egoist Amory Blaine. It details his adventures at Princeton University and several doomed love affairs as he searches for his place in life and his "personage".

Related Topics:
F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920 - Princeton University

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Fitzgerald wrote the first draft of the book while stationed in Alabama training for World War I. He submitted the manuscript to Scribner's publishing house but it was rejected. After the war, Fitzgerald's fiancee, Zelda Sayres, broke off their engagement, and the author moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising until he completed a revised manuscript. Maxwell Perkins saw promise in the young writer, and the end result is a largely auto-biographical story of an ambitious young man disillusioned with a society consumed by appearances, greed, and vanity. The protagonist's struggles with his own ambitions and moral uncertainty mirrored the ambiguity of the era. The book was an instant success, and the earnings enabled him to rekindle his relationship with Zelda, who incidentally was the inspiration for many of Amory's love interests in the novel.

Related Topics:
Alabama - World War I - Zelda Sayres - Maxwell Perkins

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