Princeton and Ginevra King
Fitzgerald circa 1920 when his debut novel was published.Since childhood, F. Scott Fitzgerald aspired to be a famous novelist.[44] "Three months before I was born," he later wrote, "my mother lost her other two children...I think I started then to be a writer."[44] While attending Princeton University, his passion for writing literature began to solidify into a career choice, and he often wrote fiction as an undergraduate.[45]
During his sophomore year at Princeton, Fitzgerald returned home to Saint Paul, Minnesota during Christmas break where the 18-year-old aspiring writer met and fell in love with 16-year-old Chicago debutante Ginevra King.[46][47] They began a romantic relationship spanning several years.[48] Although Ginevra loved him,[49] her upper-class family belittled Scott's courtship because of his lower-class status compared to her other wealthy suitors.[50] Rejected by Ginevra as a suitable match, a heartbroken Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army amid World War I.[51][52]
Hoping to have a novel published before his deployment to Europe and his anticipated death in the trenches of World War I,[52] Fitzgerald hastily wrote a 120,000-word manuscript entitled The Romantic Egotist.[53] After obtaining a brief leave from the army in February 1918, Fitzgerald continued work on his unpublished manuscript at Princeton's University Cottage Club's library.[54] Ultimately, eighty-one pages of this revised manuscript would later appear in the final version of This Side of Paradise.[55]
In May 1918, Fitzgerald gave the revised manuscript to his friend Shane Leslie to deliver to Max Perkins, an editor at Charles Scribner's Sons in New York City.[56] Leslie asked the publishing company to retain the manuscript no matter what they thought of it.[57] Although Scribner's rejected the manuscript, the impressed reviewer Max Perkins praised Fitzgerald's efforts and encouraged him to resubmit the manuscript after revisions.[58]
In June 1918, Fitzgerald was garrisoned with the 45th and 67th Infantry Regiments at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama.[59] Attempting to rebound from his rejection by Ginevra, a lonely Fitzgerald began dating Zelda Sayre, a 17-year-old Southern belle and the affluent granddaughter of a Confederate senator whose extended family owned the White House of the Confederacy.[f][63] A romance soon blossomed,[64] although Fitzgerald continued writing to Ginevra, asking in vain if there was any chance of resuming their former relationship.[65] Three days after Ginevra married a wealthy Chicago polo player, a lonely Fitzgerald professed his affection for Zelda in September 1918.[66]
Jazz Age and creative struggles
Editor Max Perkins threatened to resign from Scribner's if the company did not publish Fitzgerald's novel.Upon his army discharge in February 1919, he moved to New York City.[20] He then turned to writing advertising copy to sustain himself while seeking a breakthrough as an author of fiction.[67] Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda frequently, and by March 1920, he had sent Zelda his mother's ring, and the two became officially engaged.[68] However, as he was living in poverty in New York City, Fitzgerald could not convince Zelda that he would be able to support her, and she broke off the engagement in June 1919.[69]
In the wake of Fitzgerald's rejection by Ginevra two years prior, his subsequent rejection by Zelda further dispirited him.[70] Unable to earn a successful living, Fitzgerald publicly threatened to jump to his death from a window ledge of the Yale Club,[g][72] and he carried a revolver daily while contemplating suicide.[71]
In July 1919, Fitzgerald quit his advertising job and returned to St. Paul.[73] Having returned to his hometown as a failure, Fitzgerald became a social recluse and lived on the top floor of his parents' home at 599 Summit Avenue, on Cathedral Hill.[73] He decided to make one last attempt to become a novelist and to stake everything on the success or failure of a book.[73] Abstaining from alcohol and parties,[74] he worked day and night in his parents' home to revise The Romantic Egotist as This Side of Paradise—an autobiographical account of his Princeton years and his unfulfilling romances with Ginevra, Zelda, and others.[75] Fitzgerald chose the new title based on a line in Rupert Brooke's poem Tiare Tahiti, "Well this side of Paradise!...There's little comfort in the wise."[1]
Limbs that gleam and shadowy hair, Or floating lazy, half-asleep. Dive and double and follow after, Snare in flowers, and kiss, and call, With lips that fade, and human laughter And faces individual, Well this side of Paradise! . . . There's little comfort in the wise.
—Rupert Brooke, Tiare Tahiti (1914)[76]
Fitzgerald sent the revised manuscript to Scribner's on September 4, 1919.[77] Although the manuscript again impressed editor Max Perkins who wished to publish the novel immediately, senior executives at the publishing house overruled Perkins and rejected the novel on the grounds of indecency.[78] An undeterred Perkins threatened to resign from the company unless the work was published.[78] On September 16, Scribner's accepted the novel for publication.[77]
Fitzgerald later recalled his euphoria upon learning his first novel would be published: "The postman rang, and that day I quit work and ran along the streets, stopping automobiles to tell friends and acquaintances about it—my novel This Side of Paradise was accepted for publication. That week the postman rang and rang, and I paid off my terrible small debts, bought a suit, and woke up every morning with a world of ineffable top-loftiness and promise."[77]
Publication and success
This Side of Paradise was published on March 26, 1920, with a first printing of 3,000 copies.[79] The initial printing sold out in three days. Within months of its publication, the 23-year-old author's debut novel became a cultural sensation in the United States, and F. Scott Fitzgerald became a household name.[5] The book went through twelve printings in 1920 and 1921 for a total of 49,075 copies.[3] Initially, the novel did not provide a large income for Fitzgerald.[80][81] Copies sold for $1.75, for which he earned 10% on the first 5,000 copies and 15% beyond that. In total, in 1920 he earned $6,200 (equivalent to $94,298 in 2023) from the book.[3]
According to Fitzgerald's friend Burton Rascoe, Fitzgerald complained that "the book didn't make me as rich as I thought it would".[80] Nevertheless, Fitzgerald's new fame due to This Side of Paradise enabled him to earn much higher rates for his short stories,[6] and the author could now convince Zelda Sayre to marry him.[7] Zelda resumed her engagement to Fitzgerald on the explicit condition that he could now pay for her privileged lifestyle.[e] However, by the time of their wedding in April 1920, Fitzgerald claimed neither he nor Zelda still loved each other,[85][86] and the early years of their marriage in New York City proved to be tumultuous and a disappointment.[87][88][89]
