Excerpt from The Great Gatsby
Published in 1925

Although F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) is now considered one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American literature, he was not highly regarded at the time of his death in 1940. He did enjoy a brief period of fame and success during the 1920s, when he used vivid language and imagery to bring the Jazz Age (a term that he himself coined) to life in his popular stories and novels.

Fitzgerald was born to fairly well-off parents in St. Paul, Minnesota. He showed an early interest in writing and drama and pursued both at Princeton University, which he attended for two years. He never graduated, leaving in 1917 to join the army. Fitzgerald served for fifteen months but, to his disappointment, was never sent overseas to fight in World War I (1914–18). While stationed at an army camp near Montgomery, Alabama...