This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald (English) Paperback Book

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Presenting a chronicle of youth, this book contains an introduction by Susan Orlean, along with commentary, notes and a reading group guide.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

This Side of Paradise is the book that established F. Scott Fitzgerald as the prophet and golden boy of the newly dawned Jazz Age. Published in 1920, when he was just twenty-three, the novel catapulted him to instant fame and financial success. The story of Amory Blaine, a privileged, aimless, and self-absorbed Princeton student, This Side of Paradise closely reflects Fitzgerald's own experiences as an undergraduate. Amory Blaine's journey from prep school to college to the First World War is an account of "the lost generation." The young "romantic egotist" symbolizes what Fitzgerald so memorably described as "a new generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." A pastiche of literary styles, this dazzling chronicle of youth remains bitingly relevant decades later."This Side of Paradise commits almost every sin that a novel can possibly commit," wrote Edmund Wilson. "But it does not commit the unpardonable sin- it does not fail to live. The whole preposterous farrago is animated with life."

Author Biography

Susan Orlean is the author of The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, The Orchid Thief, and Saturday Night. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992. She lives in New York City.

Review

"As nearly perfect as such a work could be . . . The glorious spirit of abounding youth glows throughout this fascinating tale. Amory, the romantic egotist, is essentially American." –The New York Times"[A] bravura display of literary promise . . . Fitzgerald's prose is capable of soaring like a violin, and of moving his readers with understated husky notes as well as with notes of piercing purity . . . Fitzgerald knew that glamour was bound to fail, that there is an ineradicable human instinct for it which is utterly mistaken." –from the Introduction by Craig Raine

Kirkus UK Review

The book that established Fitzgerald's reputation as the chronicler of a doomed generation of young Americans between the wars. Amory Blaine resolves to rebel against his staid, mid-western upbringing and to gain a a patina of east coast sophistication: in his quest for sexual and intellectual enlightenment he embarks on a series of relationships through which he learns that money cannot buy love, before he finds himself cast adrift in the real world. (Kirkus UK)

Review Quote

"As nearly perfect as such a work could be . . . The glorious spirit of abounding youth glows throughout this fascinating tale. Amory, the romantic egotist, is essentially American." The New York Times "[A] bravura display of literary promise . . . Fitzgerald's prose is capable of soaring like a violin, and of moving his readers with understated husky notes as well as with notes of piercing purity . . . Fitzgerald knew that glamour was bound to fail, that there is an ineradicable human instinct for it which is utterly mistaken." from the Introduction by Craig Raine From the Hardcover edition.

Discussion Question for Reading Group Guide

1. In her introduction, Susan Orlean says that, like everything else Fitzgerald wrote, This Side of Paradise is "a treatise about class." Do you agree? How does Fitzgerald's preoccupation with class inform his writing? Why is Amory so obsessed with social status? 2. Many critics have dismissed the novel's episodic structure. What do you think of Fitzgerald's organization of plot and theme? Does his arrangement, or lack thereof, in any way effectively convey the restlessness of Amory and his contemporaries? What did you ultimately come away with at the novel's conclusion? 3. Discuss the importance of all things romantic in the novel. Are the romantic pursuits of Amory and his friends primarily satisfying or disillusioning? How does money, or the lack of it, play a part in the pursuit of love? Would you characterize Amory as cynical about love? 4. When first published, This Side of Paradise defined and catalyzed the youth movement of the 1920s. How does Fitzgerald's forthrightness on the vagaries of youth in 1920 strike you as a reader today? 5. At the conclusion of the novel, Fitzgerald describes a new generation "grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." To what extent is this true? What part does World War I play in the consciousness and actions of Fitzgerald's characters? 6. Discuss the significance of religion in the novel. Amory often raises questions of faith, good versus evil, and sacrifice. What does he conclude? What role does Monsignor Darcy play in Amory's developing moral identity? What is Amory's vocation? 7. Is This Side of Paradise in any way a tragic novel? How does it attempt to explain tragedy or loss? Do you think Fitzgerald intended a mournful or ultimately hopeful perspective? Why or why not?

Excerpt from Book

Book One The Romantic Egotist Amory, Son of Beatrice Amory Blaine inherited from his mother every trait, except the stray inexpressible few, that made him worth while. His father, an ineffectual, inarticulate man with a taste for Byron and a habit for drowsing over the Encyclop

Details ISBN0375758860 Author Susan Orlean Short Title THIS SIDE OF PARADISE-ML Pages 352 Language English ISBN-10 0375758860 ISBN-13 9780375758867 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2001 Imprint Modern Library Inc Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Edition 1st Alternative 9781556853470 Death 1940 Audience Age 14-18 Residence US DOI 10.1604/9780375758867 UK Release Date 2001-11-13 AU Release Date 2001-11-13 NZ Release Date 2001-11-13 US Release Date 2001-11-13 Birth 1930 Affiliation Nottingham Trent University Position Author/Illustrator Qualifications M.D. Publisher Random House USA Inc Series Modern Library Classics Publication Date 2001-11-13 DEWEY 813.52 Audience General We've got this

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