Chapter 4, The Great Gatsby Summary

The chapter begins with Nick's extensive list of the people who attended Gatsby's parties regularly, or semi-regularly, that summer, and his hints at some of the scandals with which they were involved. Nick then describes how one day, Gatsby picked him up in his flashy, expensive car and drove with him into New York for lunch, passing the ash pit and the Wilson's gas station on the way. During the drive, Gatsby (much to Nick's surprise) reveals some of his background - born to a wealthy family in San Francisco, educated at Oxford, the beneficiary of their money when most of them died, a wealthy traveler (and collector of rubies), and a survivor of World War I (during which, he says, he tried several times to die). Just when Nick is starting to think that some of...