F. Scott Fitzgerald - Biographies

The stoy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life - at least as told by Matthew J. Bruccoli - is almost as fascinating a read as his novels. Like some of his literary alter egos, Fitzgerald navigated the highs of early success as well as the depths of ruin and loneliness.


Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Matthew Joseph Bruccoli

Since its first publication in 1981, 'Some Sort of Epic Grandeur' has stood apart from other biographies of F. Scott Fitzgerald for its thoroughness and volume of information about Fitzgerald's life and career. It is regarded today as the basic work on Fitzgerald and the preeminent source for the study of the novelist. The author, Matthew J. Bruccoli, is considered to be the most renowned Fitzgerald scholar.


The Romantic Egoists: A Pictorial Autobiography from the Scrapbooks and Albums of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald by Matthew Joseph Bruccoli

This is the perfect accompaniment to Bruccoli's 'Some Sort of Epic Grandeur': The pictorial biography recounts Fitzgerald's life in pictures and other excerpts from Fitzgerald's scrapbook. Fitzgerald's daughter Scottie Fitzgerald Smith helped Bruccoli to collect the material for this book and even wrote a touching preface.


Sometimes Madness Is Wisdom: Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald by Kendall Taylor

If you exhibit a tendency towards hero worship and if Fitzgerald features prominently amongst your personal collection of demi-gods, you might want to steer clear of 'Sometimes Madness Is Wisdom'. In her account of the time Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald spent with each other, the author Kendall Taylor never flinches when it comes to shining a bright light on the more questionable aspects of the couple's behavior. Wasting their time as carelessly as their money, alienating friends and foes with childish, alcohol-inspired pranks and never embracing their responsibilities as parents, the Fitzgeralds, in particular Scott, come across as spoilt brats who foolishly believed they were somehow exempt from the precepts of ordinary decency. However, as justified as the warts-and-all approach to biography might be, especially to balance the more awe-struck works of Broccoli et al., Taylor goes overboard with details on who may have slept with whom and the drunken antics of everyone involved. In fact, the book is so focused on the debauchery, you start you wonder how Scott got any work done - and what the point of this painstaking research of sordid details was. Ultimately, Scott and Zelda are long gone; what remains is the stories they have told. And our time is probably better spent re-visiting those rather than speculating about the madness their wisdom was distilled from.


Fool for Love: F. Scott Fitzgerald by Scott Donaldson

Scott Donaldson's biography focuses on Fitzgerald's relationship to the most important women in his life: His mother, his first girlfriend Ginevra King, his wife Zelda Sayre and the devoted lover of his later years Sheila Graham.


Hemingway Vs. Fitzgerald by Scott Donaldson

Paris in the 1920s: The era of literary expatriates Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald continues to burn in the imagination as a time of glamour and romance. In 'Hemingway Vs. Fitzgerald' Scott Donaldson creates a multi-faceted narrative of a great friendship fueled by admiration, jealousy, and liquor - a heady mixture of literary scholarship, history, and gossip.


Scott Fitzgerald by Andrew Turnbull

Turnbull's biography follows Fitzgerald's life from his early years in St. Paul and at Princeton to New York in the twenties, the French Riviera, Baltimore, and finally Hollywood. He tells the story behind Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise - revised and published when he was twenty-four, making him instantly famous - and his tender love affair with Zelda Sayre, from their glittering early life to the years Zelda spent in and out of sanatoriums.


The Perfect Hour: The Romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ginevra King by James West

Fitzgerald was a sophomore at Princeton when he fell in love for the first time. Ginevra King, though only sixteen, was blessed with the confidence that considerable wealth can bring. Their romance began instantly, flourished in many letters, and quickly ran its course - but Fitzgerald never forgot it. James West tells the story of their relationship that shaped Fitzgerald's life as a writer.




F. Scott Fitzgerald - An Annotated Bibliography