Scott Fitzgerald: A Biography

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RetailFrom Publishers WeeklyMeyers's compulsively readable, marvelously vivid biography of Jazz Age novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) uncovers a wealth of new details that cumulatively bring into focus a tragic figure torn between the struggle for artistic integrity and the desire to live up to his glamorous image. Biographer of Hemingway, Poe and D. H. Lawrence, Meyers is especially adept at discussing Fitzgerald's alcoholism, which alienated his friends; the devastating impact of his wife Zelda's three mental breakdowns and her plunge into madness; and Fitzgerald's well-intentioned but misguided parenting of their daughter Scottie whom he raised virtually on his own. Meyers provides much new material on Fitzgerald's numerous love affairs, on his friendships with Edmund Wilson, Hemingway and others, on his formative years at a Catholic boarding school and on his academic disaster at Princeton. He is also insightful in ferreting out links between Fitzgerald's "extremely autobiographical" fiction and his chaotic life. Photos. BOMC alternate; QPB selection. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalFitzgerald once observed that "there are no second acts in American lives"--too bad, he could have used one. Meyers's often brutally honest portrait of the short, unhappy lives of Scott and Zelda is a disturbing inventory of excess and squandor. Myers presents his subjects as self-centered and irresponsible scamps who get their comeuppance manyfold, with Scott corrupting his great talent with alcohol and second-rate work hacked out for easy money and Zelda freefalling into madness. As in his many other fine biographies (e.g., Edgar Allan Poe , LJ 7/92), Meyers adds a portion of literary criticism by dissecting Fitzgerald's major writings in detail. Though it is repetitive in spots, Meyers scores another hit with this work--the most important book on Fitzgerald in 20 years. Coupled with Cambridge University Press's outstanding series of definitive editions of Scott's novels, this biography may spark a new perspective on Fitzgerald. Highly recommended. BOMC alternate; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/93.- Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.