F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S GREAT DEPRESSIONS: "TENDER IS THE NIGHT AND OTHER STORIES"

Between 1920 and 1926, F. Scott Fitzgerald published three novels and three short story collections, and he established himself as one of the greatest living American writers. He and his wife, Zelda, became Jazz Age celebrities. They hobnobbed with movie stars, Broadway actors, and literary luminaries, and they relished every minute in the public eye—drawing attention to themselves by diving into fountains, riding on top of taxis, and undressing in public. This life of tireless partying included a devastating amount of drinking, and it began to take a serious toll on both of them. Scott could not get any traction on his next book project, and he repeatedly changed focus, stalled, and found himself unable to write. Zelda began to pursue ballet dancing with an obsession that bordered on manic. After suffering her first serious breakdown in 1929, Scott’s focus shifted to her mental illness, and his next book, which took eight years to finish, would be a comment on his own fractured marriage, Zelda’s deteriorating mind, and America’s collapsing economy. This course will examine this book, Tender Is the Night (1934), which many consider to be Fitzgerald’s greatest masterpiece, as well as several of the short stories that he used as a testing ground for that material.