My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence. An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of th next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s so easy to get distracted by new releases and abandon my book project ideas. Some new releases that I am excited about – are “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano, The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok, The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, and Holmes, Marple & Poe by James Patterson and Brian Sitts. I heard about these books through different podcasts: “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books” hosted by Zibby Owens, Virtual Book Tour” (Book of the Month Author Interviews) Hosted by Brianna Goodman and Jerrod MacFarlane, and “What Should I Read Next?” hosted by Anne Bogel. To find out more about these exciting new books, just click on the links to GoodReads, or search the podcasts for author interviews.
As I mentioned, these podcasts can distract me from concentrating on my reading goal of catching up on my back-list of books. The idea for this year is to focus on F. Scott Fitzgerald. Why? I was perusing the used book area of my local library (Friends of the Library.) I found ‘The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald’ edited by Matthew Bruccoli, published in 1989, I bought it for $1.
This edition includes a Foreward by Charles Scribner III, in which he writes that at the time of his death, Fitzgerald’s books were not out of print with his publisher, as he suspected.
The truth is sadder; they were all in stock at our warehouse and listed in the catalogue, but there were no orders.”
Charles Scribner III, “F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Short Stories” p. 9
Fitzgerald did, ultimately fulfill his ideal. I am interested in rereading the novels and stories, many of which I haven’t read since highschool. Let’s see how they hold up.
I plan to read one short story per week. Also, I plan to begin “The Beautiful and the Damned” which I have never read. It’s been on my Goodreads TBR for over ten years.
I also plan to reread “The Great Gatsby”, accompanied by “So We Read on: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why it Endures.” by Maureen Corrigan. The GoodReads book description says:
Maureen Corrigan…points out that while Gatsby may be the novel most Americans have read, it’s also the ones most of us read too soon — when we were “too young, too defensive emotionally, too ignorant about the life-deforming powers of regret” to really understand all that Fitzgerald was saying (“it’s not the green light, stupid, it’s Gatsby’s reaching for it,” as she puts it)”
GoodReads
Besides enjoying the stories he told, and the way he told them, I would like to understand
the author’s reappraisal and subsequent revival that gained momentum through the Fifties and has continued in full force down to the present time.”
Charles Scribner III, “F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Short Stories” p. 9
According to Scribner, this literary apotheosis is a “publishing phenomenon perhaps unprecedented in modern American letters.”
Follow me on my journey! I will update as I finish novels, and include updates as I progress throught the short stories.
Lovelearning 