Publication of The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel is narrated by Nick Carraway, a young man from the Midwest who moves to Long Island and becomes a neighbour of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. Gatsby throws lavish parties in the hope of winning back Daisy Buchanan, the woman he once loved, and the story builds to a tragic end. Set in the Jazz Age, it examines wealth, class, illusion and the failure of the American dream. It sold modestly at first, and Fitzgerald died believing himself a failure. Its reputation grew after the Second World War, and it is now regarded as one of the great American novels.

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