- ^ Historian Jeff Nilsson described F. Scott Fitzgerald as the poet laureate of the Jazz Age, "the most raucous, gaudy era in U.S. history".[1]
- ^ As a Southern belle, Zelda Sayre's wealthy family employed half-a-dozen domestic servants, many of whom were African-American.[23] She was unaccustomed to domestic labor of any kind and delegated all tasks to her servants.[24][25]
- ^ In the original 1925 edition, Fitzgerald wrote that Gatsby and Nick served in the First Division. Fitzgerald revised the text in later editions to be the Third Division.[34]
- ^ a b Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald identifies his native region of the Midwest—those "towns beyond the Ohio"—with the perceived virtuousness and rustic simplicity of the American West and as culturally distinct from the decadent values of the eastern United States.[249][250]
- ^ Another possible model for Tom Buchanan was Southern polo champion and aviator Tommy Hitchcock Jr., whom Fitzgerald met at Long Island parties while in New York.[44]
- ^ Primary sources such as Zelda Fitzgerald and F. Scott Fitzgerald's friend Edmund Wilson both stated that Max Gerlach was a neighbor.[37][69] Scholars have yet to find surviving property records for a Long Island residence with Gerlach's name.[70] However, there are likely "gaps in the record of his addresses",[70] and an accurate reconstruction of Gerlach's life and whereabouts is greatly hindered "by the imperfect state of relevant documentation".[71]
- ^ In a 2009 book, scholar Horst Kruse asserts that Max Gerlach was born in or near Berlin, Germany, and, as a young boy, he immigrated with his German parents to America.[73]
- ^ With the end of prohibition and the onset of the Great Depression, Max Gerlach lost his wealth. Living in poverty, he attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head in 1939.[75]
- ^ Only two pages of the first draft of The Great Gatsby survive. Fitzgerald enclosed them with a letter to Willa Cather in 1925. They are now in the Fitzgerald Papers at Princeton University.[85]
- ^ While Fitzgerald worked on the novel, his wife Zelda was romanced by French naval aviator Edouard Jozan and asked for a divorce.[99]
- ^ In 2002, over six decades after Fitzgerald's death, his earlier draft of the now-famous novel was published under the title Trimalchio: An Early Version of The Great Gatsby.[112]
- ^ Many years after The Great Gatsby's publication, Francis Cugat's original painting for the book cover was presumed forever lost until it was found in a trash can at Scribner's and donated to the Princeton University Libraries for its Graphic Arts Collection.[132]
- ^ Daisy's statement that she hopes her daughter will be a "beautiful little fool" was said by Zelda Fitzgerald when their daughter Frances was born on October 26, 1921, in a St. Paul hospital.[201]
- ^ Fessenden (2005) argues that Fitzgerald struggled with his sexual orientation.[230] In contrast, Bruccoli (2002) insists that "anyone can be called a latent homosexual, but there is no evidence that Fitzgerald was ever involved in a homosexual attachment".[231]
- ^ Scholars have focused on Fitzgerald's statement in a letter that his mind was "half feminine".[232] In 1935, Fitzgerald wrote to Laura Guthrie: "I don't know what it is in me or that comes to me when I start to write. I am half feminine—at least my mind is".[233]
- ^ The spelling "Wolfshiem" appears throughout Fitzgerald's original manuscript, while "Wolfsheim" was introduced by editor Edmund Wilson in the second edition.[253] This appears in later Scribner's editions.[254]
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