Our January 2024 Selection: "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The Great Gatsby" is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious, self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former flame, Daisy Buchanan.

Upon publication, the book did not perform well commercially compared to Fitzgerald's previously published works, and Fitzgerald passed away in 1940 believing his magnus opus to be a failure. During World War II, the novel experienced an abrupt surge in popularity when the Council on Books in Wartime distributed free copies to American soldiers serving overseas. This new-found popularity launched a critical and scholarly re-examination, and the work soon became a core part of most American high school curricula and a part of American popular culture. Numerous stage and film adaptations followed in the subsequent decades, including Baz Luhrmann's 2013 movie adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan.

Scholars emphasize the novel's treatment of social class, inherited versus self-made wealth, gender, race, and environmentalism, and its cynical attitude towards the American Dream. "The Great Gatsby" is widely considered to be a literary masterpiece and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel. 

Our discussion will be held on Monday, January 29, 2024 at 3pm in our Old Community Room. To join the discussion, and/or to have a copy of the book set aside for you, please either stop in, call our Main Circulation Desk at 203-468-3890, or email Chris directly at chemingway@hagamanlibrary.org.