Author
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald became famous at 23 and wrote The Great Gatsby at 28. His stories of parties, money and lost dreams defined the 1920s, a time he called the Jazz Age.
- Born
- 24 September 1896, St. Paul, Minnesota
- Died
- 21 December 1940, Hollywood, California
- Best known for
- The Great Gatsby (1925)
- Married
- Zelda Sayre, in 1920
Life in brief
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896. He studied at Princeton University but left without a degree, and joined the US Army during the First World War.
His first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920), made him famous almost overnight, and that same year he married Zelda Sayre. The couple became symbols of the glamorous 1920s. Fitzgerald popularised the name “Jazz Age” with his story collection Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). The Great Gatsby followed in 1925.
In the 1930s his books sold poorly, and money and health problems grew. He moved to Hollywood to write for films, without much success. He died there of a heart attack in 1940, aged 44. His friend Edmund Wilson edited his unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, which came out in 1941.
Main works
| Book | Published |
|---|---|
| This Side of Paradise | 1920 |
| The Beautiful and Damned | 1922 |
| Tales of the Jazz Age | 1922, stories |
| The Great Gatsby | 1925 |
| Tender Is the Night | 1934 |
| The Last Tycoon | 1941, unfinished |
Why read F. Scott Fitzgerald today
- His sentences are some of the most beautiful in American writing.
- He captures the thrill and emptiness of chasing money and status.
- Gatsby is short enough to read in a weekend.
Where to start
Start with The Great Gatsby. If you like it, his short stories from the 1920s are a good next step.
On Bibliocity
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Frequently asked questions
Is The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald’s only famous book?
It is his most famous, but This Side of Paradise and Tender Is the Night are also well known, along with many short stories.
Did Fitzgerald invent the term Jazz Age?
He made it popular, especially through his 1922 story collection Tales of the Jazz Age.
Which of Fitzgerald’s books are in the public domain?
In the United States, books published before 1931 are now public domain, which includes This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned and The Great Gatsby. Tender Is the Night (1934) is still under US copyright.
Explore more
- The Great Gatsby in shortF. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
- Jane Austen1775 to 1817
- Mary Shelley1797 to 1851
- Herman Melville1819 to 1891
- Classic books to readA starter list
- Famous book quotesExact quotes from classic novels
Sources
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Published 2026-10-27. Last checked 2026-10-27.