The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
“A devastating critique of the American Dream, written by a man who lived it and lost everything.”
At a Glance
Nick Carraway moves to Long Island in 1922 and becomes neighbors with the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire who throws lavish parties to win back Daisy Buchanan — Nick's cousin and wife of the brutish old-money Tom Buchanan. Gatsby and Daisy reunite, but the dream collapses when Tom exposes Gatsby's criminal past. Daisy kills Tom's mistress Myrtle in a hit-and-run with Gatsby's car; Gatsby takes the blame; Myrtle's husband shoots Gatsby dead in his pool. Almost nobody comes to his funeral. Nick returns to the Midwest, disillusioned.
Read full summary →Why This Book Matters
Initially a commercial failure — sold about 20,000 copies in Fitzgerald's lifetime. Revived during WWII when Armed Services Editions sent 150,000 free copies to American soldiers overseas. By the 1950s it was a classroom staple. Now sells 500,000+ copies annually and is considered THE American novel about the hollowness of the Dream.
Diction Profile
Formal with poetic flourishes — Latinate vocabulary mixed with Jazz Age slang in dialogue
Very high