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Born in St Paul, Minnesota
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896. His family’s financial instability deeply influenced his writing, especially his views on wealth and class. His father, an alcoholic, struggled in business, while his mother came from a wealthy family but suffered due to the family’s decline -
Attends Princeton University
Fitzgerald entered Princeton University in 1913, where he began to develop his writing career. Though he never graduated, his time at Princeton, writing lyrics for student plays, influenced his later works. His exposure to the elite social life at Princeton also played into the themes of wealth and aspiration in his novels -
First Novel: This Side Of Paradise
Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920. It was an instant success, propelling him into the literary spotlight and establishing him as a voice for the “lost generation.” The novel, based on his Princeton experiences, explored themes of youth, romance, and societal expectations -
Gets Married to Zelda Sayre
In 1920, Fitzgerald married Zelda Sayre, the daughter of a wealthy judge from Alabama. Zelda became the muse for many of Fitzgerald’s female characters and a symbol of the Jazz Age. Their marriage was turbulent, with both suffering from personal and professional struggles -
The Jazz age
Fitzgerald and Zelda became the quintessential couple of the Jazz Age, living a glamorous life full of extravagant parties and public spectacles. Fitzgerald’s works, especially The Great Gatsby, are often seen as capturing the excesses and contradictions of this period -
Second Novel: The beautiful and the demand
In 1922, Fitzgerald published The Beautiful and the Damned, which explored the downfall of a young couple immersed in New York’s high society. The novel reflects his own struggles with fame, fortune, and personal turmoil -
Writes The great Gatsby
Fitzgerald’s most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, was published in 1925. Though it initially received lukewarm reviews, it would later become one of the defining works of American literature. It explored the themes of the American Dream, love, and social class -
Financial Troubles and Fall off
By 1929, Fitzgerald’s career was on the decline. His lifestyle, fueled by excessive spending, and his struggles with alcoholism took a toll. The stock market crash of 1929 added to his financial troubles, and he found it difficult to continue writing with the same success -
Zelda’s Mental breakdown
Zelda Fitzgerald suffered from mental health issues throughout their marriage, and in the early 1930s, she had a breakdown. She was hospitalized several times, and the couple’s personal problems worsened during this period -
Alcoholism
Throughout the 1930s, Fitzgerald’s drinking became more problematic. His alcoholism worsened as his career faltered, and he struggled to regain his former literary success. This was also compounded by his financial problems and Zelda’s ongoing mental health issues -
Writes Tender of the Night 1934
Published in 1934, Tender Is the Night was another of Fitzgerald’s major works. However, the novel received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure. It depicted a psychiatrist’s self-destructive relationship with his mentally unstable wife, drawing from Fitzgerald’s personal experiences -
Hollywood
In 1937, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood in search of steady income. He took a job as a screenwriter at MGM, where he worked on films like Gone with the Wind and Three Comrades. However, his screenwriting career never reached the heights he had hoped for -
Began the love of the last tycoon
In 1940, Fitzgerald started working on his final novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon. The novel, about a film producer, was incomplete when Fitzgerald died. It was later published posthumously and stands as a testament to his complex, unfinished career -
Dies at 44
F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940, at the age of 44. At the time of his death, he was largely forgotten by the literary world. His final years had been marked by personal and professional struggles, and he had been living in relative obscurity -
Posthumous revival and legacy
Fitzgerald’s reputation was revived after World War II, particularly with the success of The Great Gatsby, which became a key text in American literature. Today, he is regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century