During the last six years of his life, F. Scott Fitzgerald was an Esquire author. Between 1934 and 1940, Fitzgerald sold some forty-five pieces of writing to the magazine - fiction, nonfiction, and personal essays. This volume of the Cambridge Edition includes thirteen short stories published by Fitzgerald in Esquire, together with the entire Pat Hobby Series -seventeen stories about an aging screenwriter scrambling to make a living in Hollywood during the 1930s. One other story - 'Dearly Beloved', submitted to Esquire but not published there - is included as an appendix. The volume provides restored, accurate texts based on Fitzgerald's surviving manuscripts, typescripts, and proofs. A textual apparatus records editorial decisions; explanatory notes identify people, places, literary works, historical events, and references to Hollywood actors, directors, and films. The volume also includes selected facsimiles of Fitzgerald's manuscripts and typescripts for the Esquire writings.
Introduction; Section I. Esquire Stories, 1935–41: Three acts of music; The ants at Princeton; 'I didn't get over'; An alcoholic case; The long way out; The guest in room nineteen; In the holidays; Financing Finnegan; Design in plaster; The lost decade; On an ocean wave; The woman from '21'; Three hours between planes; Section II. The Pat Hobby Series, 1940–1: Pat Hobby's Christmas wish; A man in the way; 'Boil some water - lots of it'; Teamed with genius; Pat Hobby and Orson Welles; Pat Hobby's secret; Pat Hobby, putative father; The homes of the stars; Pat Hobby does his bit; Pat Hobby's preview; No harm trying; A patriotic short; On the trail of Pat Hobby; Fun in an artist's studio; Two old-timers; Mightier than the sword; Pat Hobby's college days; Record of variants; Explanatory notes; Illustrations; Appendix 1. 'Dearly beloved'; Appendix 2. Publication and earnings.
James L. W. West III is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University.
Reviews for Fitzgerald: The Lost Decade: Short Stories from Esquire, 1936–1941
'… well done and the stories will be welcome for all those who enjoy Fitzgerald's work or who are interested in the author's final years.' Contemporary Review ''Cambridge editions of [Fitzgerald's] works contribute to such an intricate access through their wealthy textual apparatus, explanatory notes, and background materials.' Stefan L. Brandt, John F. Kennedy-Institut, Berlin
