Through such classic novels as The Great Gatsby, Tender Is the Night, and This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald established himself as perhaps the most penetrating voice of the Jazz Age, chipping away at the glittering veneer of the times to reveal the stained inner lives of fallen men, rebellious women, the young and beautiful, and those who mingled among them. Now, with vividly interpreted readings by an all-star cast of performers, the Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald audio collection sheds new light on his shorter fiction, providing a fresh glimpse of some of Fitzgerald's most enduring work.This collection highlights Fitzgerald's early successes, the short stories he wrote in the late 1910s and early 1920s, around the time This Side of Paradise was first published. They included "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," "Head and Shoulders," "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," "Dalrymple Goes Wrong," "The Ice Palace," "The Jelly-Bean," "Benediction," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and the renowned longer story "May Day." The stories reflect Fitzgerald's early interest in the themes that permeate his later work, introducing us to characters bedazzled by wealth and their pursuit of it, in social circles where opulence obscures corruption, and where gaiety glosses over the slippery slope toward the characters' own moral -- as well as financial -- bankruptcy.
But ultimately, the tales are an opportunity to appreciate Fitzgerald's prose at its best -- lush in metaphor, exacting in emotion -- language that truly was meant to be read out loud: "Trees filtering light onto dappled grass. Trees like tall, languid ladies with feather fans coquetting airily with the ugly roof of the monastery. Trees like butlers bending courteously over placid walks and paths..." The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald audiobook enhances the language beautifully, bringing to bear the talent of a unique cast of actors from stage and screen, including Robert Sean Leonard, Peter Gallagher, Eric Stoltz, and Parker Posey, to interpret the characters and moods of Fitzgerald's work with expert skill. It is a truly rare gem of a recording, one we're sure you'll love, and one you will return to again and again.