by Amanda Vaill
[>] “we always thought . . . with many people”: GCM to CT, 24 Aug. 1960, HMD.
“chic (which was unpardonable)” . . . living room: Ibid.
“the most beautiful”: FSF comment to Dorothy Parker, quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 67.
Christmas dinner in 1923 . . . Princeton: Edmund Wilson to John Peale Bishop, 15 Jan. 1924, in Wilson, Letters on Literature and Politics, pp. 117–18.
[>] “We four communicate . . . affection for Scott”: GCM to FSF and Zelda Fitzgerald, 19 Sept. 1925, PUL.
“My father is a moron”: FSF to Maxwell Perkins, 20 Feb. 1926, The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 199.
they, like Dos Passos . . . “Da-da”: S&G, p. 7; Miller, Letters from the Lost Generation, p. xxvi; JDP, The Best Times, p. 170.
[>] “full of money”: FSF, The Great Gatsby, p. 120.
dresses from Poiret . . . Palais Royale: GCM to CT, 4 Sept. 1960, HMD; ESB interview.
“It was a colossal frost . . . impatient whispers”: FSF, “How to Live on $36, a Year,” Afternoon of an Author, p. 118.
“When I like men . . . leave him out”: FSF, The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 146.
Three stories high . . . across the river: Personal observation.
The Gounod family . . . jumped at it: GCM/CT interview, HMD; Noel Murphy to ARM, 6 Feb. 1924, HMD.
[>] fifteen minutes . . . back and forth: Ada MacLeish to Maurice Firuski, 28 Feb. 1924, Berg Collection, New York Public Library.
art notebook . . . didn’t seem sure: GCM art notebook, HMD. William Rubin, in The Paintings of Gerald Murphy (p. 15), seems to believe this passage was a proposal for a ballet, but unlike the other ballet scenario in the book it describes only a static set piece, not a continuum of imagery and action. welcome both grandfathers: Photograph in SWM’s scrapbooks, HMD.
[>] “the trouble with his father”: Noel Murphy to ARM, 6 Feb. 1924, HMD. “quite off”: Ibid.
long-limbed . . . linen pillowcase: HMD interview.
“all agree . . . made myself plain”: Noel Murphy to ARM, 6 Feb. 1924, HMD.
On May 23 . . . never entirely clear: Frederic Murphy’s obituaries in Morning Telegraph (London), 25 May 1924, and Yale Alumni News, undated; both HMD.
[>] “Picture . . . big match box”: GCM art notebook, HMD.
“mechanically, in profile”: GCM, quoted in Hayden Herrera, “Gerald Murphy, An Amurikin in Paris,” Art in America, Sept.-Oct. 1974.
“re-present . . . interior of a watch”: GCM, MacAgy/Murphy papers.
[>] By his own admission . . . piano at home: Ibid.
1924 rayograph . . . clock’s works: Man Ray, Untitled, 1924, collection of Arnold Crane, New York, in Turner, Americans in Paris, p. 84.
“never had anything valuable”: GCM to SWM, 16 Jun. 1915, HMD.
As one critic . . . time is king: Hayden Herrera, “Gerald Murphy: An Amurikin in Paris,” Art in America, Sept.-Oct. 1974.
[>] instrument de précision: GCM to AMacL, 22 Jan. 1930, LOC; GCM to AJ, 13 Jun. 1946, UT.
nightly dinner guest . . . “prettiest girls”: DOS, By a Stroke of Luck! pp. 130–31.
Stewart finally . . . Ada MacLeish: Ibid., p. 130.
“was just instinctively”: AMacL, Reflections, p. 42.
[>] “We went . . . later for Noces”: AMacL to John Peale Bishop, 30 Jul. 1924, Letters of Archibald MacLeish, p. 150.
“I must say . . . but Scott”: SWM/Nancy Milford interview, quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 110.
[>] “I don’t know how”: GCM/Nancy Milford interview, quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 110.
“He was bronze . . . she didn’t care”: Zelda Fitzgerald, Save Me the Waltz, p. 89.
“It did upset . . . his own fault?”: GCM/Nancy Milford interview, quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 110.
[>] “locked in my villa . . . [Jozan]”: Milford, Zelda, p. 174.
Gilbert Seldes brought . . . side of the road: Ibid., p. 111.
“unflinching gaze”: GCM, quoted in LW, p. 102.
“But Say-ra”: LW, p. 42.
Outside stood Scott . . . “did it on purpose”: Ibid.
When she found out . . . never mentioned again: GCM/Nancy Milford interview, Milford, Zelda, p. 111.
That summer . . . hazed over with smoke: Details from Gertrude Benchley to Nancy Milford, Milford, Zelda, p. 107.
[>] The owner . . . “people I don’t know?”: Blume, Côte d’Azur, p. 77.
Noel Murphy . . . six-cylinder Renault: Noel Murphy/HMD interview, HMD.
The nearsighted Stewart . . . bull come at him: GCM/CT interview, HMD; DOS, By a Stroke of Luck! pp. 132–33.
But Gerald and Sara . . . advertised on the cover: DOS, By a Stroke of Luck! p. 134.
Johnny Lucinge . . . Riviera in the summer: Bernard Minoret interview.
“we saw what was happening”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.
On the slope . . . near the house: Description of shrubs from personal observation; S&G, p. 19; and Previews Incorporated real estate sell sheet, May 1949, no. 428–33.
[>] “I think . . . own way”: GCM to SWM, [1915], HMD.
“artiste peintre”: Deed is on file at Hotel de Ville, Antibes.
13. “Our real home”
[>] “the Gerald Murphys”: Ada MacLeish to Maurice Firuski, 28 Sept. 1924, Berg Collection, New York Public Library.
“had all his life”: AMacL, “The Intimate Poems of L. T. Carnavel,” LOC.
[>] “Gerald was a remarkable . . . very knowledgeable”: AMacL, Reflections, p. 42.
He and Sara had sung . . . “any other way”: LW, p. 29.
Marcelle Meyer . . . baby to be admired: SWM scrapbooks, HMD.
“les Murphy . . . very important”: Eric Satie to Vincente Huidobro, 28 Jun. 1924, Fondation Erik Satie.
Gerald was a friend . . . quite so close: AMacL, Reflections, p. 45.
“stirred by poetry”: AMacL to Betty Choate, 12 Feb. 1925, in Donaldson, Archibald MacLeish, p. 148.
“A poem should”: AMacL, “Ars poetica,” New and Collected Poems, 1917–1976, pp. 106–107.
[>] “in French terms”: AMacL, Reflections, p. 43.
“very easy . . . see them”: AMacL/Drabeck and Ellis interview transcript, Archibald MacLeish Collection, Greenfield Community College.
“very solid . . . in the spring”: Ada MacLeish to Maurice Firuski, 5 Jan. 1926, Berg Collection, New York Public Library.
“Stripes of mustard . . . sur le chameau”: All quotes from AMacL, 1926, Notes & "Drafts for The Hamlet of A. MacLeish, LOC (my translations).
The preceding spring . . . return to New York: Donaldson, Archibald MacLeish, pp. 136–38. William MacLeish, in an interview with the author, said that his father denied having such an affair—at least to him.
[>] perhaps not so coincidentally . . . made notes: GCM art notebook, HMD. “lace, globe, black stems”: Ibid.
“Sara never lodged”: Unpublished, crossed-out draft of “Portrait of Mme. G——M——,” in Notebook 1924–25, MacLeish Papers, LOC.
Her room”: AMacL, “Sketch for a Portrait of Mme. G——M——, New and Collected Poems, 1917–1976, pp. 107–109.
[>] “1000 parties”: FSF, Ledger, p. 179.
“weren’t really party people” . . . kept coming back: GCM/CT interview, HMD.
“sentimentally disturbed”: GCM to CT, [1961], HMD.
“in love . . . kiss between friends?”: GCM/CT and SWM/CT interview tapes, HMD.
[>] “Sara, look at me”: CT notes, HMD.
Once, in a taxi . . . banknotes into his mouth: LW, p. 101.
who used to wash coins: Noel Murphy/HMD interview, HMD; also S&G, p. 32.
uninterested in food . . . prewar years: GCM/CT interview notes, HMD.
“Scott used to . . . not your roommate”: ESB interview.
[>] literary advice: LW, p. 105.
he made Gerald repeat . . . so unlike Gerald: GCM/CT interview notes, HMD.
“Are you what they . . . wanted to, always”: GCM to CT,
[1960], HMD.
[>] “I hear a pulsing motor . . . dates you!”: LW, p. 106.
“I’ve been watching . . . buckles and straps”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.
“about myself . . . ever invented”: FSF to H. L. Mencken, 4 May 1925, The Letters ofF. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 491.
[>] matters had been sticky . . . brother-in-law: HMD interview.
“noted for her Enthusiasm . . . Concentration”: Barnes, Ladies Almanack, p. 32.
“an idiot savant”: James Douglas interview.
“on her back in bed” . . . to get relief: Esther Murphy to Muriel Draper, [Aug. 1926], Muriel Draper papers, Beinecke Library.
attachment to Janet Flanner . . . his own sexuality: FMB interview.
[>] “our real home”: S&G, p. 15.
Its limestone walls . . . another balcony: Layout described in HMD and FMB interviews; also in an advertisement for the Villa America by Previews Incorporated, listing no. 428–33), May 1949.
In the main reception . . . completed the look: Descriptions based on photographs and interviews with HMD, FMB, ESB, and Yvonne Roussel Luff.
Sara enlivened . . . found a new home: Linens and furniture listed in Villa America household inventory, HMD.
[>] Throughout the house . . . green lace: HMD interview.
Gerald had found . . . silver radiator paint: ESB interview.
In July they purchased . . . farmhouse: Deed on file at Hotel de Ville, Antibes.
giving each: Yvonne Roussel Luff interview.
Sara wrote . . . plant sweet corn: SWM to “Mr. Steinmetz,” undated [1929], HMD.
She and Gerald . . . variety of nut trees: Previews Incorporated advertisement, HMD.
they acquired two cows . . . chauffeur, Albert: HMD interview.
[>] Sara had tried to learn . . . gave up trying: S&G, p. 32.
Vladimir Orloff . . . Englishman called Kipling: HMD interview.
“do the things we want”: GCM to SWM, quoted in LW, pp. 18–19.
In the mornings . . . what needed to be done: Schedule from interviews with HMD and Yvonne Roussel Luff.
[>] Sometimes the mornings . . . cut Gerald’s hair: S&G, p. 30.
“Think . . . tender weight, gone!”: LW, p. 94.
There the children . . . toe touches: Exercise sheet in SWM’s handwriting in “Valuable Data” file, HMD.
“recondite hors d’oeuvres”: JDP, The Best Times, p. 150.
probably the delicious . . . Honoria still remembers: S&G, p. 31.
They ate at the big . . . fresh parsley: Menus from HMD interviews, JDP, The Best Times, p. 150; and AMacL, Reflections, p. 46.
[>] Once when the Picassos . . . different from girls: HMD interview.
“Chere mecie picaso” . . . Guernica: HMD to Pablo Picasso, 26 Sept. 1925, Musée Picasso.
Late in the afternoon . . . highest point: S&G, p. 31.
Cannes . . . railroad tracks: GCM to ESB, 18 Jun. 1950, GUL.
“holocausts”: LW, p. 41
“just the juice”: HMD interview.
“invented by me” . . . mint in each glass: GCM to Alexander Woollcott, 15 Feb. 1939, HU.
[>] These Gerald mixed . . . preparing Mass: S&G, p. 31.
served them ritually . . . drink before dinner: Hester Pickman/HMD interview, HMD.
Honoria practiced . . . Jimmy Durante’s band: S&G, p. 31.
“there was no one”: FSF to John Peale Bishop, [Sept. 1925], The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, pp. 358–59.
Donald Ogden Stewart . . . Plage de la Garoupe: DOS, By a Stroke of Luck! pp. 144–45.
“Most of them”: SWM to CT, 1 Jul. 1969, HMD.
[>] Manuel Ortiz de Zarate . . . interesting: SWM to Pablo Picasso, undated, Musée Picasso.
That night . . . happy she was to be there: FSF to Marya Mannes, [Oct. 1925], The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, pp. 488–89.
In thanks . . . “never been so moved”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.
The parties weren’t always . . . complete success: HMD interview.
“Life gets a little denser”: GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, JFK.
[>] “it is the horror”: AMacL to John Peale Bishop, 8 Aug. 1925, Letters of Archibald MacLeish, p. 169.
[>] So in June . . . “STUPIDITY”: Interview with Jacques Livet, friend of Vladimir Orloff; telegram quoted in Jacques Livet to the author, 7 Jul. 1994 (my translation).
“always became a native”: David Pickman/HMD interview.
In July . . . Don Stewart: ESB interview.
[>] “at first astonishing . . . Cézanne’s apples”: Florent Fels, “Le Salon des Indépendents,” L’Art vivant, vol. 1, no. 6, 20 Mar. 1925, p. 27.
Archibald MacLeish . . . for himself: It’s not clear when MacLeish acquired this painting, but it must have been around this time: a letter to John Peale Bishop dated 3 Feb. 1926 mentions MacLeish’s “Juan Gris &Gerald Murphy bedecked atelier.” (AMacL, Letters of Archibald MacLeish, p. 176.)
“L’Art d’aujourd’hui . . . certainly not European”: Rubin, The Paintings of Gerald Murphy, p. 30.
“Gerald Murphy . . . in Paris”: LW, p. 26.
The writer . . . getting to know them: Reynolds, Hemingway: The Paris Years, p. 325.
when he struck up . . . impressed: GCM to CT, 4 Sept. 1960.
14. “The kind of man to whom men, women, children, and dogs were attracted”
[>] “the kind of man”: Hadley Hemingway to Nancy Milford, quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 117.
“promises to remove him”: Wilson, Paris on Parade, p. 248.
[>] Hemingway often wrote . . . drink or a coffee: EH, A Moveable Feast, pp. 91–92.
“a writer’s job”: EH, quoted in Mellow, Hemingway, p. 187.
“alpha male”: William MacLeish interview.
“he was such an enveloping”: GCM/CT interview notes, HMD.
“Sara loved very male”: FMB interview.
“nobody is as male”: S&G, p. 21.
[>] “a nice, plain girl . . . carry the burden”: GCM and SWM/CT interview (taped), HMD.
“swell”: EH to FSF, 24 Dec. 1925, EH, Emest Hemingway: Selected Letters, p. 182.
“Picture:—Finish”: GCM art notebook, HMD.
“that big green”: EH, “My Old Man,” The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, p. 193.
“with rich food”: EH to Bill Smith, 2 Jan 1926, private collection; Reynolds, Ernest Hemingway: The American Homecoming, p. 9.
fly to the Silvretta . . . ski down: EH to Grace Hemingway, 14 Dec. 1925, JFK.
toyed with the idea . . . January: GCM to FSF, 19 Sept. 1925, PUL.
And for Ernest . . . friends and family: Reynolds, Ernest Hemingway: The American Homecoming, p. 9.
[>] returned to him, unread . . . Oak Park: EH to Dr. C. E. Hemingway, 20 Mar. 1925, Emest Hemingway: Selected Letters, p. 153.
“You see . . . working toward something”: Ibid.
“Those God-damn . . . promise to yourself”: GCM to EH, in S&G, p. 21.
[>] proceeded to read . . . single evening: EH to FSF, 15 Dec. 1925, Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters, p. 176.
Sara dozed off . . . applauded its author: LW, p. 27.
“I have known . . . 10th printing”: EH to FSF, 31 Dec. 1925, Emest Hemingway: Selected Letters, p. 183.
“I’m loose”: Ibid.
promising . . . developments: EH notebook, quoted in Reynolds, Hemingway: The Paris Years, p. 350.
left a manuscript copy: GCM to Hadley Hemingway, 3 Mar. 1926, JFK; Miller, Letters from the Lost Generation, p. 15.
“Gosh, what news . . . water afresh”: Ibid.
[>] “felt like skunks”: Ibid.
“spent two days . . . absolutely elated”: GCM/CT interview notes, HMD.
evening, all five . . . Gerald and Sara as well?: Details from Reynolds, Hemingway: The American Homecoming, pp. 11–12.
[>] “nucleus”: GCM art notebook, HMD.
“the last unalloyed”: JDP, The Best Times, p. 158.
That spring Gerald .
. . withdrawn or damaged: Catalogue, Société des Artistes Indépendents, 37e Exposition (held at Palais de Bois, Porte Maillot, 20 Mar. to 2 May 1926). The catalogue lists two pictures by Gerald Murphy: no. 2635 bis, Laboratoire and no. 2635 ter, Nature Morte. The bis and ter numerations indicate that they were the second and third entries; the first entry, not listed, must have been withdrawn after its number was assigned.
“group of chemical retorts”: GCM art notebook, HMD.
[>] “a table with real objects”: Ibid. All these notes precede a dated entry from Oct. 1926; any note on pages after that could not refer to paintings executed, or exhibited, before then.
[>] “‘painting’ forms . . . human relations”: GCM art notebook, HMD.
“Is there dramatic . . . human beings”: GCM to Philip Barry, [1925–26], GUL.
[>] “Hadley seemed so tired . . . Don’t worry—you”: GCM to EH, 22 May 1926, JFK; Miller, Letters from the Lost Generation, pp. 16–17.
What they didn’t tell . . . other expenses: Hadley Hemingway to EH, 24 May 1926, JFK; Reynolds, Hemingway: The American Homecoming, p. 35.
Gerald Cohn: The Sun Also Rises manuscript 194-I-13, JFK. See also Mellow, Hemingway, p. 304.
“By the time we left . . . great fun”: Hadley Hemingway to Nancy Milford, quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 119.
[>] “I made one of those mistakes”: FSF to Zelda Fitzgerald, [summer] 1930, PUL; Correspondence ofF. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 239.
Why did they rave . . . about his own: GCM/CT interview notes, HMD.
“I suppose you have”: LW, p. 106, and CT interview.
promising composer ruined . . . “Seth with you”: TITN, pencil ms. 2, the Melarky version, PUL. See also Bruccoli, ed., F. Scott Fitzgerald Manuscripts, vol. IVa: Tender Is the Night: The Melarky and Kelly Versions, Part 1.
“It’s hardly likely”: SWM to FSF, [summer 1926], PUL.
“cooled relation” . . . Sara too: TITN, p. 75; CT transcriptions of GCM interviews, HMD.
[>] “So was Ernest”: ESB interview.
When Archie MacLeish . . . liner’s bridge: Donaldson, Archibald MacLeish, p. 157
Indian war dance on the pier: AMacL, Reflections, p. 41.
They organized morning . . . smiling to herself: All photographs, SWM scrapbooks, HMD.
[>] Strange music . . . giants and dwarfs: GCM/CT taped interview, HMD.