Many readers have found in this youthful performance by Fitzgerald a sense of the author's testing his talent, trying to determine which narrative strategies "work" and which fail. Discussion could focus on the ways in which the author seems to be attempting various approaches to the task of creating a worthy text: for example, a quote from "Casey Jones," the use of subheads (as with "The Philosophy of the Slicker"), and the inclusion of "poetic" passages at the close of chapters (in italics).

Since the book is clearly "experimental," some thought could be given to the question of its length. Given the tightness of a The Gatsby (1925), readers, when considering This Side of Paradise, might consider whether the novel is too long (more than twice the length of Gatsby) and, if so, what parts could be excised, without damage to the thematic effects.

When thinking of...