Artwork: (l) F. Scott Fitzgerald. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. (r) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammett.
“There are no second acts in American lives,” F. Scott Fitzgerald fatalistically proclaimed. The celebrated novelist and short story writer, who had been an alcoholic since college, was a study in decadence and despair, privilege and passion, success and self-sabotage.
Also: Hemingway’s Reading List for Aspiring Writers
His fourth novel, Tender is the Night (1934), portended his downfall, as it spoke of a marriage on the skids, alcohol addiction, and mental collapse. An affair with Lois Moran, a starlet and muse for one of the characters in the book, drove his wife Zelda went over the edge. Two years later, Fitzgerald had her committed to the Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Then he fell apart—just as Esquire was publishing his essay, The Crack Up as a three-month installment.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s handwritten list of 22 books he considered essential reading.
That summer, Fitzgerald fractured his shoulder while diving in the swimming pool at Asheville’s Grove Park Inn, where he had been staying to be close to Zelda. According to Michael Cody at the University of South Carolina’s Fitzgerald Web site, it was later reported that, “he fired a revolver in a suicide threat, after which the hotel refused to let him stay without a nurse.”
Enter Dorothy Richardson, who took the position of trying to keep the bottle out of his mouth, while providing good company. Fitzgerald felt compelled to build a personal connection with his nurse. Thinking it wise to educate her in his area of expertise, he created a list of 22 books he considered essential reading.
Enjoy a slide show of the titles, along with links where they are available free online.
Miss Rosen is a journalist covering art, photography, culture, and books. Her byline has appeared in L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Online, The Undefeated, Dazed Digital, Aperture Online, and Feature Shoot. Follow her on Twitter @Miss_Rosen.
F Scott Fitzgerald Essential Reading List
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Photograph of F. Scott Fitzgerald c. 1921, appearing "The World's Work" (June 1921 issue). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Life of Jesus, by Ernest Renan
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Old Wives' Tale, by Arnold Bennett
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiel Hammett
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Red and the Black, by Stendahl
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant, translated by Michael Monahan
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
An Outline of Abnormal Psychology, edited by Gardner Murphy
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Stories of Anton Chekhov, edited by Robert N. Linscott
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Best American Humorous Short Stories, edited by Alexander Jessup
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Victory, by Joseph Conrad
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Revolt of the Angels, by Anatole France
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Sanctuary, by William Faulkner
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Within a Budding Grove, by Marcel Proust
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Guermantes Way, by Marcel Proust
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
Swann's Way, by Marcel Proust
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
South Wind, by Norman Douglas
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
The Garden Party, by Katherine Mansfield
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley: Complete Poetical Works
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s List of 22 Essential Books
F. Scott Fitzgerald. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
