Glittering Things: Flappers, Fantasies & Tales of the Jazz Age

Once considered a writer of “slick” magazine stories intended for mass consumption, F. Scott Fitzgerald is now regarded as one of the finest literary craftsmen of his, or of any other, generation. Entrenched in the milieu of the reckless 1920’s, his stories reflect the carefree, impetuous attitude of the time, but they also go far beyond providing a mere snapshot of a generation. Fitzgerald established himself as a master at entwining romanticism with realism. He dissected class differences with a surgeon’s precision. He exalted the Jazz Age fantasy of glorious excess even as he tore it apart.

"Glittering Things: Flappers, Fantasies & Tales of the Jazz Age" contains a solid compendium of early works by Fitzgerald—a time when he was at his most experimental in terms of themes and techniques, as well as a time when he was at his most influential with the public. Included in this special edition is the novelette “Winter Dreams,” a story that would eventually become his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. Also included are “May Day” and “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” two of the most well-regarded pieces in the Fitzgerald canon, offering the writer’s candid analysis of the darker side of the Jazz Age’s quest for excess. Fitzgerald’s trademark wit and mastery of dialogue are also well represented with the stories “The Camel’s Back,” “Porcelain and Pink,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald helped give voice to a generation engaged in “purposeless splendor.” More importantly, his works have become essential to understanding the uniquely American themes of social class conflict, ill-omened idealism, and the all-encompassing “pursuit of happiness.” These classic stories are now inexorably woven into the American literary landscape.