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Saturday, March 26, 2016

THIS SIDE OF PARADISE

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1900

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD PUBLISHED 1ST NOVEL 96 YEARS AGO

New York City (JFK+50) F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, ninety-six years ago today, March 26, 1920.  The novel examines the lives and morality of youth of the post-World War I era.

The 3ooo copies making up the First Printing sold out in only three days.  By the time the 12th Printing had been completed, 49,078 copies were sold.

The book's publisher was Charles Scribner and Sons.  Critic, H.L. Mencken called the work... the "best American novel I have seen of late."
Most of Fitzgerald's characters, including Amory Blaine, the protagonist, were based on people in the author's own life.

In the 1920s, Fitzgerald published his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby.

*Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was born in St. Paul, MN & named after his famous second cousin, author of the Star Spangled Banner.  FSKF graduated from Newman Prep School in New Jersey in 1913 & attended Princeton University before joining the US Army as a 2nd Lt.

After the war, FSKF married Zelda Sayre at St. Paul's Cathedral in NYC. They began a life of glamorous parties and luxurious living.  By 1925, they were living in Europe where Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby". 

Zelda Fitzgerald died in a sanitarium and her husband died of a heart attack at the age of 44.


F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The World's Work"
June 1921