1 00:00:07,562 --> 00:00:10,242 Speaker 1: iHeart originals. 2 00:00:10,362 --> 00:00:12,522 Speaker 2: This is an iHeart original. 3 00:00:22,082 --> 00:00:27,682 Speaker 3: F Scott Fitzgerald wanted something sweet. It was a Saturday afternoon, 4 00:00:27,922 --> 00:00:33,202 Speaker 3: four days before Christmas nineteen forty. Fitzgerald was staying at 5 00:00:33,242 --> 00:00:38,402 Speaker 3: the West Hollywood apartment of his girlfriend, Sheila Graham. Graham 6 00:00:38,642 --> 00:00:43,842 Speaker 3: was a prominent Hollywood gossip columnist who lived below Sunset Boulevard. 7 00:00:44,482 --> 00:00:49,082 Speaker 3: In Graham's kitchen, the one time literary it boy rustled 8 00:00:49,082 --> 00:00:53,602 Speaker 3: through the cupboards. No DUTs, I'm going to Schwabs to 9 00:00:53,642 --> 00:00:58,082 Speaker 3: get some ice cream, Fitzgerald said. Schwabs was a pharmacy 10 00:00:58,162 --> 00:01:02,722 Speaker 3: popular with Hollywood types right around the block. A couple 11 00:01:02,842 --> 00:01:07,562 Speaker 3: weeks earlier, Fitzgerald was in there buying cigarettes when suddenly 12 00:01:07,642 --> 00:01:13,122 Speaker 3: he got dizzy. His vision started going black. He nearly fainted. 13 00:01:13,762 --> 00:01:17,642 Speaker 3: The episode alarmed him. He had never felt like that before. 14 00:01:18,322 --> 00:01:22,682 Speaker 3: The Next morning, Fitzgerald's physician told him he'd had a 15 00:01:22,802 --> 00:01:28,282 Speaker 3: cardiac spasm, presumably induced by all those years of smoking 16 00:01:28,442 --> 00:01:33,602 Speaker 3: and alcoholism. The doc prescribed lots of rest, which is 17 00:01:33,642 --> 00:01:37,762 Speaker 3: what brought Fitzgerald to Graham's apartment. It was on the 18 00:01:37,802 --> 00:01:41,082 Speaker 3: ground floor, so he wouldn't have to climb any stairs. 19 00:01:42,282 --> 00:01:46,402 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald passed the days in Graham's care working on a 20 00:01:46,442 --> 00:01:51,842 Speaker 3: new novel. It had been fifteen years since Fitzgerald's third book, 21 00:01:52,362 --> 00:01:57,642 Speaker 3: The Great Gatsby, went down as a commercial flop. It 22 00:01:57,722 --> 00:02:01,002 Speaker 3: put a damper on the breakout success he'd found with 23 00:02:01,282 --> 00:02:06,082 Speaker 3: This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned. By 24 00:02:06,162 --> 00:02:10,562 Speaker 3: nineteen four, Fitzgerald didn't have much of a career left 25 00:02:10,722 --> 00:02:14,802 Speaker 3: to speak of. He had recently received his latest royalty 26 00:02:14,882 --> 00:02:19,522 Speaker 3: check for forty copies of his books, including seven of 27 00:02:19,722 --> 00:02:25,922 Speaker 3: The Great Gatsby, the grand total thirteen dollars and thirteen cents. 28 00:02:26,522 --> 00:02:29,602 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald had moved to la He was trying to make 29 00:02:29,642 --> 00:02:35,162 Speaker 3: a living as a screenwriter, but books were Fitzgerald's first love, 30 00:02:35,762 --> 00:02:38,522 Speaker 3: and he hoped this new one would put him back 31 00:02:38,562 --> 00:02:42,402 Speaker 3: on the map. On December thirteenth, he wrote to his 32 00:02:42,642 --> 00:02:46,322 Speaker 3: estranged wife, Zelda, who was living on the other side 33 00:02:46,362 --> 00:02:51,082 Speaker 3: of the country, after being discharged from a psychiatric hospital. 34 00:02:52,082 --> 00:02:54,722 Speaker 1: The novel is about three quarters through, and I think 35 00:02:54,762 --> 00:02:57,802 Speaker 1: I can go on till January twelfth without doing any 36 00:02:57,842 --> 00:02:59,762 Speaker 1: stories or going back to the studio. 37 00:03:00,562 --> 00:03:03,762 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald updated Zelda on his recovery. 38 00:03:04,522 --> 00:03:07,562 Speaker 1: The cardiogram shows that my heart is repairing its but 39 00:03:07,762 --> 00:03:10,322 Speaker 1: it will be a gradual process. It will take some months. 40 00:03:10,842 --> 00:03:12,762 Speaker 1: It is odd that the heart is one of the 41 00:03:12,882 --> 00:03:14,722 Speaker 1: organs that does repair itself. 42 00:03:16,122 --> 00:03:19,722 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald seemed to be getting better as far as Graham 43 00:03:19,722 --> 00:03:23,202 Speaker 3: could tell. Still, a doctor was coming to visit, and 44 00:03:23,442 --> 00:03:27,642 Speaker 3: she didn't want to risk Fitzgerald missing him. Instead of 45 00:03:27,682 --> 00:03:31,202 Speaker 3: schlepping two schwabs for ice cream, how about a couple 46 00:03:31,282 --> 00:03:33,802 Speaker 3: of the Hershey bars she kept in a box on 47 00:03:33,842 --> 00:03:39,402 Speaker 3: her bedside table. Good enough, Fitzgerald replied. He sank into 48 00:03:39,442 --> 00:03:43,882 Speaker 3: a green armchair with a copy of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. 49 00:03:44,482 --> 00:03:48,082 Speaker 3: Nibbling on the chocolate, he made notes in the margins 50 00:03:48,082 --> 00:03:51,962 Speaker 3: of an article about his old school's football team. Then, 51 00:03:52,162 --> 00:03:56,522 Speaker 3: out of nowhere, Fitzgerald sprung up, clutched the mantle above 52 00:03:56,562 --> 00:04:00,562 Speaker 3: the fireplace, and fell to the floor. He lay on 53 00:04:00,722 --> 00:04:05,482 Speaker 3: his back, eyes closed, making a sort of gasping sound. 54 00:04:06,362 --> 00:04:12,162 Speaker 3: Scott Graham pleaded, kneeling beside him. Scott a short while later, 55 00:04:12,442 --> 00:04:18,082 Speaker 3: as Graham cried hysterically, a white sheet covered Fitzgerald's body. 56 00:04:18,762 --> 00:04:21,202 Speaker 3: He had died of a heart attack at the age 57 00:04:21,242 --> 00:04:26,202 Speaker 3: of forty four. Fitzgerald was notable enough to marriage The 58 00:04:26,282 --> 00:04:30,722 Speaker 3: New York Times's lead obituary on Monday, December twenty third. 59 00:04:31,562 --> 00:04:37,322 Speaker 3: But the article had a decidedly has been tone brilliant 60 00:04:37,402 --> 00:04:43,242 Speaker 3: novelist of twenties inactive recently likened itself to cracked plate. 61 00:04:43,762 --> 00:04:48,842 Speaker 3: The headline declared Fitzgerald never got to finish the book 62 00:04:48,842 --> 00:04:51,642 Speaker 3: he had been writing. He'd hoped it would mark a 63 00:04:51,722 --> 00:04:56,002 Speaker 3: return to literary standing, that it would achieve for him 64 00:04:56,202 --> 00:05:01,762 Speaker 3: what The Great Gatsby hadn't. Gatsby, after all, was Fitzgerald's 65 00:05:01,762 --> 00:05:06,642 Speaker 3: most personally cherished work. He thought it had potential to 66 00:05:06,682 --> 00:05:11,562 Speaker 3: be the great American novel if only Fitzgerald had lived 67 00:05:11,962 --> 00:05:18,082 Speaker 3: just a few years longer, because against all odds, Gatsby 68 00:05:18,322 --> 00:05:24,962 Speaker 3: was on the verge of becoming just that. Welcome to 69 00:05:25,282 --> 00:05:30,322 Speaker 3: very special episodes and iHeart original podcast. I'm your host, 70 00:05:30,482 --> 00:05:34,882 Speaker 3: Danish Wartz, and this is happy one hundredth old sport 71 00:05:35,522 --> 00:05:37,362 Speaker 3: making Gatsby Great. 72 00:05:39,082 --> 00:05:42,282 Speaker 4: Hello, thank you for joining us. She's Danish Wartz, He's 73 00:05:42,322 --> 00:05:46,082 Speaker 4: Aaron Burnett. I'm Jason English. Today we're celebrating a very 74 00:05:46,082 --> 00:05:49,842 Speaker 4: special anniversary one hundred years ago this week, April tenth, 75 00:05:49,962 --> 00:05:53,282 Speaker 4: nineteen twenty five, The Great Gatsby was first published. Do 76 00:05:53,362 --> 00:05:56,162 Speaker 4: either of you have any relationship with this book. 77 00:05:56,242 --> 00:05:58,842 Speaker 3: I love it, I really do. Great Gatsby is one 78 00:05:58,842 --> 00:06:01,482 Speaker 3: of my favorite books. I really do think Scott, as 79 00:06:01,522 --> 00:06:04,042 Speaker 3: I call him from Scott, my good friend, Scott Fitzgerald 80 00:06:04,562 --> 00:06:06,602 Speaker 3: was right when he sent it to his editor when 81 00:06:06,642 --> 00:06:08,802 Speaker 3: he said, like, I think this is like the great 82 00:06:08,802 --> 00:06:11,602 Speaker 3: American novel, and I just wish I had a tenth 83 00:06:11,642 --> 00:06:14,442 Speaker 3: of his confidence and a fiftieth of his talent. 84 00:06:14,882 --> 00:06:17,882 Speaker 1: Right, oh my god. And also being able to know 85 00:06:18,002 --> 00:06:20,002 Speaker 1: that this is the great American novel getting done with it, 86 00:06:20,122 --> 00:06:22,282 Speaker 1: being like, this is it. I mean, come on, he 87 00:06:22,362 --> 00:06:25,122 Speaker 1: called his shot right, Oh dude, it was just a 88 00:06:25,202 --> 00:06:28,082 Speaker 1: killer shot too. And also this episode. I learned so 89 00:06:28,202 --> 00:06:30,002 Speaker 1: much from this one. I didn't know about any of 90 00:06:30,002 --> 00:06:32,562 Speaker 1: this with the Armed Services books. That was incredible. 91 00:06:32,642 --> 00:06:36,442 Speaker 3: It makes me feel so much better about the possibility 92 00:06:36,522 --> 00:06:39,722 Speaker 3: of failure, knowing that posterity might change its mind. 93 00:06:39,922 --> 00:06:44,602 Speaker 4: Yeah, someone might step in and send things you've written 94 00:06:44,722 --> 00:06:48,002 Speaker 4: to every soldier stationed abroad and. 95 00:06:49,482 --> 00:06:50,442 Speaker 1: Years after your death. 96 00:06:50,642 --> 00:06:52,642 Speaker 4: Like, that's a lot of hope in that. 97 00:06:52,642 --> 00:06:53,602 Speaker 1: That's posterity. 98 00:06:56,042 --> 00:07:00,922 Speaker 3: F Scott Fitzgerald's literary sensibilities took hold in his teenage 99 00:07:01,002 --> 00:07:05,122 Speaker 3: years at a Catholic prep school in Hackensack, New Jersey. 100 00:07:05,722 --> 00:07:10,482 Speaker 3: They further blossomed at Princeton, where Fitzgerald palled around with 101 00:07:10,602 --> 00:07:14,922 Speaker 3: budding scholars like Edmund Wilson and wrote for the Princeton 102 00:07:15,162 --> 00:07:19,402 Speaker 3: Tiger and the Nassau Literary Magazine. But it was World 103 00:07:19,442 --> 00:07:25,162 Speaker 3: War One that kicked Fitzgerald's ambitions into high gear. In 104 00:07:25,282 --> 00:07:29,242 Speaker 3: nineteen seventeen, he dropped out of Princeton to join the Army, 105 00:07:29,762 --> 00:07:33,162 Speaker 3: which sent him to a training camp at Fort Levensworth 106 00:07:33,242 --> 00:07:37,322 Speaker 3: in Kansas. There, Fitzgerald began to work on what he 107 00:07:37,442 --> 00:07:43,002 Speaker 3: thought of as a quote immortal novel. Mortality nagged at 108 00:07:43,042 --> 00:07:46,722 Speaker 3: the aspiring twenty one year old author, laced up in 109 00:07:46,842 --> 00:07:52,402 Speaker 3: combat boots as a global conflagration raged. As he would later. 110 00:07:52,242 --> 00:07:56,362 Speaker 1: Recall, in those days, all infantry officers thought they only 111 00:07:56,402 --> 00:07:59,282 Speaker 1: had three months to live, and I had left no 112 00:07:59,402 --> 00:08:03,482 Speaker 1: mark on the world. But such consuming ambition was not 113 00:08:03,562 --> 00:08:06,922 Speaker 1: to be forwarded by a mere war. 114 00:08:06,922 --> 00:08:10,482 Speaker 3: On Saturday, at one o'clock, Fitzgerald would dart over to 115 00:08:10,522 --> 00:08:14,602 Speaker 3: the smoky quarters of the Officers Club and write. After 116 00:08:14,642 --> 00:08:18,762 Speaker 3: three months, he was still alive, and he'd cranked out 117 00:08:18,802 --> 00:08:21,922 Speaker 3: a one hundred and twenty thousand word manuscript. 118 00:08:22,402 --> 00:08:25,202 Speaker 5: He sent it to Charles Scribner's Sons, which was a 119 00:08:25,282 --> 00:08:27,402 Speaker 5: huge publisher at the time in New York City. 120 00:08:28,242 --> 00:08:32,602 Speaker 3: That's author Molly Guptell Manning, whose excellent book will link 121 00:08:32,682 --> 00:08:33,762 Speaker 3: to in the show notes. 122 00:08:34,362 --> 00:08:37,642 Speaker 5: And although they rejected it, it crossed the hands of 123 00:08:37,682 --> 00:08:42,842 Speaker 5: Max Perkins at Scribner's, and Perkins told Fitzgerald, you know, 124 00:08:42,882 --> 00:08:45,442 Speaker 5: maybe with some revisions, one day we would be able 125 00:08:45,522 --> 00:08:46,162 Speaker 5: to publish this. 126 00:08:46,842 --> 00:08:51,242 Speaker 3: That was enough to keep Fitzgerald's dream alive. In the meantime, 127 00:08:51,362 --> 00:08:55,882 Speaker 3: now stationed near Montgomery, Alabama, he'd met a girl named 128 00:08:56,042 --> 00:09:00,242 Speaker 3: Zelda Sayer, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy Southern family. 129 00:09:01,042 --> 00:09:04,842 Speaker 3: Their relationship progressed quickly, coinciding with the end of the 130 00:09:04,882 --> 00:09:10,242 Speaker 3: war in November nineteen eighteen. Fitzgerald never did make it 131 00:09:10,282 --> 00:09:15,042 Speaker 3: to Europe during the war. After his discharge several months later, 132 00:09:15,482 --> 00:09:19,962 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald moved to New York, seeking fame and fortune, the 133 00:09:20,002 --> 00:09:23,802 Speaker 3: prerequisites for Zelda to marry him. He took a day 134 00:09:23,882 --> 00:09:28,322 Speaker 3: job writing ad copy and focused on his storytelling at night. 135 00:09:29,082 --> 00:09:31,362 Speaker 5: He was trying to write magazine articles because he thought 136 00:09:31,362 --> 00:09:34,842 Speaker 5: that would be the most lucrative form of writing for him, 137 00:09:35,042 --> 00:09:38,522 Speaker 5: and he was rejected. I think over one hundred times, 138 00:09:38,802 --> 00:09:41,362 Speaker 5: and so he started to lose heart even with that. 139 00:09:42,202 --> 00:09:44,162 Speaker 5: And I think that it was through all of those 140 00:09:44,162 --> 00:09:48,442 Speaker 5: failures that he decided to finally sit down and try 141 00:09:48,482 --> 00:09:51,482 Speaker 5: to revise that manuscript that he had written during World 142 00:09:51,562 --> 00:09:52,042 Speaker 5: War One. 143 00:09:53,642 --> 00:09:57,522 Speaker 3: In the summer of nineteen nineteen, Fitzgerald quit his advertising 144 00:09:57,602 --> 00:10:00,322 Speaker 3: job and went to live with his parents in his 145 00:10:00,522 --> 00:10:04,402 Speaker 3: native Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hold up on the top floor, 146 00:10:04,442 --> 00:10:08,442 Speaker 3: he wrote, and he edited, and he wrote and edited 147 00:10:08,682 --> 00:10:12,482 Speaker 3: some more, sustaining himself on Mel's mom or Dad would 148 00:10:12,482 --> 00:10:16,362 Speaker 3: deliver to his room bombing change from friends to buy 149 00:10:16,442 --> 00:10:20,322 Speaker 3: cigarettes and Coca cola. By the end of the summer, 150 00:10:20,722 --> 00:10:26,322 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald's revision was complete under the name This Side of Paradise. 151 00:10:26,922 --> 00:10:31,722 Speaker 3: He submitted it to Scribner's on September fourth. Twelve days later, 152 00:10:31,882 --> 00:10:34,162 Speaker 3: a letter from Max Perkins arrived. 153 00:10:34,922 --> 00:10:37,562 Speaker 6: I am very glad personally to be able to write 154 00:10:37,602 --> 00:10:39,802 Speaker 6: to you that we are all for publishing your book, 155 00:10:40,082 --> 00:10:43,002 Speaker 6: This Side of Paradise. I think that you have improved 156 00:10:43,002 --> 00:10:46,562 Speaker 6: it enormously as the first manuscript did. It abounds in 157 00:10:46,762 --> 00:10:49,002 Speaker 6: energy and life, and it seems to me to be 158 00:10:49,082 --> 00:10:52,042 Speaker 6: in much better proportion. The book is so different that 159 00:10:52,122 --> 00:10:54,522 Speaker 6: it is hard to prophesy how it will sell, but 160 00:10:54,562 --> 00:10:56,682 Speaker 6: we are all for taking a chance and supporting it 161 00:10:56,722 --> 00:10:57,282 Speaker 6: with vigor. 162 00:10:58,402 --> 00:11:03,682 Speaker 3: As the Fitzgerald scholar Matthew Brocoli later recalled, Fitzgerald had 163 00:11:03,722 --> 00:11:06,642 Speaker 3: found the editor who would back him for the rest 164 00:11:06,642 --> 00:11:09,842 Speaker 3: of him his life, and Perkins had made his first 165 00:11:10,082 --> 00:11:14,362 Speaker 3: great find and was launched on his career as America's 166 00:11:14,602 --> 00:11:20,482 Speaker 3: legendary literary editor. With scribners on board, Fitzgerald wanted the 167 00:11:20,522 --> 00:11:24,242 Speaker 3: novel to be published as soon as possible, He wrote 168 00:11:24,282 --> 00:11:26,922 Speaker 3: back to Perkins, emphasizing mistakes. 169 00:11:27,802 --> 00:11:31,202 Speaker 1: I have so many things dependent on its success, including 170 00:11:31,242 --> 00:11:33,882 Speaker 1: of course a girl. Not that I expected to make 171 00:11:33,922 --> 00:11:36,922 Speaker 1: me a fortune, but it will have a psychological effect 172 00:11:36,962 --> 00:11:40,882 Speaker 1: on me and all my surroundings and open up new fields. 173 00:11:41,282 --> 00:11:44,962 Speaker 1: I'm in that stage where every month counts frantically and 174 00:11:45,042 --> 00:11:48,642 Speaker 1: seems a cudgel in a fight for happiness against time. 175 00:11:49,602 --> 00:11:53,322 Speaker 3: This Side of Paradise was published on March twenty sixth, 176 00:11:53,682 --> 00:11:58,282 Speaker 3: nineteen twenty. A week later, Scott and Zelda got hitched 177 00:11:58,322 --> 00:12:03,682 Speaker 3: at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan. The ceremony represented 178 00:12:03,842 --> 00:12:07,842 Speaker 3: more than just a marriage. In retrospect, it had the 179 00:12:07,882 --> 00:12:13,122 Speaker 3: air of a coronation. A new era of unbridled decadence 180 00:12:13,202 --> 00:12:18,682 Speaker 3: had noted. The FitzGeralds would preside over this Babylon like 181 00:12:18,722 --> 00:12:23,002 Speaker 3: a king and queen. Lucky for them, this side of 182 00:12:23,042 --> 00:12:27,522 Speaker 3: Paradise became a runaway cultural phenomenon as soon as it 183 00:12:27,602 --> 00:12:32,522 Speaker 3: hit Shells, turning Fitzgerald into an overnight celebrity. 184 00:12:33,082 --> 00:12:35,962 Speaker 5: It changes his life entirely. It proved to him that 185 00:12:36,002 --> 00:12:38,522 Speaker 5: he could make a living by writing all those magazine 186 00:12:38,602 --> 00:12:41,522 Speaker 5: articles he had written earlier that had been rejected. All 187 00:12:41,562 --> 00:12:44,522 Speaker 5: of a sudden, these magazines, like The Saturday Evening Post 188 00:12:45,122 --> 00:12:46,962 Speaker 5: were offering a lot of money. 189 00:12:47,362 --> 00:12:52,882 Speaker 3: As Fitzgerald's fame skyrocketed. A second sensation followed in nineteen 190 00:12:52,962 --> 00:12:56,642 Speaker 3: twenty two with The Beautiful and Damned, of which the 191 00:12:56,722 --> 00:13:00,802 Speaker 3: author's pal Edmund Wilson later wrote, quote, the hero and 192 00:13:00,922 --> 00:13:05,282 Speaker 3: heroine are strange creatures without purpose or method, who give 193 00:13:05,362 --> 00:13:09,802 Speaker 3: themselves up to wildies and do not, from beginning to end, 194 00:13:10,242 --> 00:13:14,082 Speaker 3: perform a single serious act. But you somehow get the 195 00:13:14,122 --> 00:13:17,362 Speaker 3: impression that, in spite of their madness, they are the 196 00:13:17,402 --> 00:13:21,122 Speaker 3: most rational people in the book. In the real world, 197 00:13:21,242 --> 00:13:24,882 Speaker 3: the hero and heroin behind The Beautiful and Damned had 198 00:13:24,922 --> 00:13:29,322 Speaker 3: become avatars of the jazz age, captivating the nation with 199 00:13:29,362 --> 00:13:33,002 Speaker 3: their good looks, glamour and booze soaked antics. 200 00:13:33,762 --> 00:13:36,802 Speaker 5: Ke and Zelder were described almost like children, like running 201 00:13:36,842 --> 00:13:39,602 Speaker 5: around in a candy store. They were invited to the 202 00:13:39,642 --> 00:13:45,242 Speaker 5: best parties. They looked like celebrities. You know, suntan, youthful, 203 00:13:45,762 --> 00:13:46,602 Speaker 5: very successful. 204 00:13:46,642 --> 00:13:52,122 Speaker 7: People know this man well, you noise books for this 205 00:13:52,362 --> 00:13:56,722 Speaker 7: is Francis Scott Key Fitzguerro, better known as EB Scott Fitzgeral. 206 00:13:57,402 --> 00:14:01,002 Speaker 7: It's just nineteen twenty two and author is just twenty six. 207 00:14:02,202 --> 00:14:05,402 Speaker 7: Here's his wife, a llegedly model for his heroine, Joan 208 00:14:05,482 --> 00:14:12,602 Speaker 7: here B hamily read writer her Stilva, author The Great Gatsby. 209 00:14:12,642 --> 00:14:17,322 Speaker 3: With two literary blockbusters under his belt, Fitzgerald got to 210 00:14:17,442 --> 00:14:20,602 Speaker 3: work on what he hoped would be a third. It 211 00:14:20,722 --> 00:14:25,402 Speaker 3: was about an elusive Long Island millionaire named Jay Gatsby 212 00:14:25,882 --> 00:14:29,842 Speaker 3: and his obsessive quest to reunite with a former flame, 213 00:14:30,322 --> 00:14:35,802 Speaker 3: Daisy Buchanan. The plot was inspired by Fitzgerald's own heartbreak 214 00:14:36,162 --> 00:14:40,922 Speaker 3: following a youthful romance with the Chicago socialite and heiress 215 00:14:41,242 --> 00:14:46,162 Speaker 3: Geneva King. Genev's father had delivered a fatal blow to 216 00:14:46,242 --> 00:14:51,882 Speaker 3: the relationship when he reportedly remarked in Fitzgerald's presence, poor 217 00:14:51,962 --> 00:14:56,882 Speaker 3: boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls. With the sting 218 00:14:56,922 --> 00:15:00,682 Speaker 3: of those words still fresh all these years later, the 219 00:15:00,722 --> 00:15:04,442 Speaker 3: writing of The Great Gatsby commenced in Europe, where the 220 00:15:04,442 --> 00:15:09,002 Speaker 3: FitzGeralds and their toddler daughter Frand took up residence. In 221 00:15:09,042 --> 00:15:13,762 Speaker 3: the summer of nineteen twenty four. Fitzgerald put the finishing 222 00:15:13,962 --> 00:15:18,602 Speaker 3: touches on the book the following February. Gatsby, as far 223 00:15:18,642 --> 00:15:23,522 Speaker 3: as Fitzgerald was concerned, was a masterpiece. As he told 224 00:15:23,722 --> 00:15:27,962 Speaker 3: Max Perkins, I think my novel is the best American 225 00:15:28,042 --> 00:15:29,362 Speaker 3: novel ever written. 226 00:15:30,042 --> 00:15:32,362 Speaker 5: He really believed it was going to be the great 227 00:15:32,442 --> 00:15:36,362 Speaker 5: American novel. He really wanted to prove his literary medal 228 00:15:36,722 --> 00:15:41,002 Speaker 5: with this book. He takes all of the experiences he 229 00:15:41,082 --> 00:15:44,682 Speaker 5: had going to these really swanky parties on Long Island 230 00:15:44,802 --> 00:15:47,642 Speaker 5: in New York City in the preceding years, and he 231 00:15:47,802 --> 00:15:50,682 Speaker 5: used a lot of that to try to craft this 232 00:15:50,882 --> 00:15:53,522 Speaker 5: story and prove that he. 233 00:15:53,602 --> 00:15:56,122 Speaker 2: Was basically the best writer of the era. 234 00:15:57,922 --> 00:16:02,042 Speaker 3: As with This Side of Paradise five years earlier, Fitzgerald 235 00:16:02,082 --> 00:16:05,202 Speaker 3: felt like there was so much writing on this book, 236 00:16:05,562 --> 00:16:09,322 Speaker 3: albeit not the acceptance of a marriage proposal this time, 237 00:16:09,882 --> 00:16:14,282 Speaker 3: but his stature in the literary pantheon, his confidence, and 238 00:16:14,402 --> 00:16:18,522 Speaker 3: his sense of self. In the days after Gatsby's April 239 00:16:18,602 --> 00:16:24,842 Speaker 3: tenth debut, Fitzgerald nervously cabled Perkins from Europe, asking how 240 00:16:24,842 --> 00:16:30,802 Speaker 3: it was doing. Perkins's reply on April twentieth wasn't exactly 241 00:16:30,842 --> 00:16:38,602 Speaker 3: what Fitzgerald wanted to hear. Sales situation doubtful, excellent reviews. Sure, 242 00:16:38,722 --> 00:16:42,762 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald was getting congratulatory letters from the likes of Willa Cather, 243 00:16:43,562 --> 00:16:47,362 Speaker 3: Edith Wharton, and T. S. Eliot, who wrote, quote, it 244 00:16:47,442 --> 00:16:51,162 Speaker 3: seems to me to be the first step American fiction 245 00:16:51,282 --> 00:16:56,082 Speaker 3: has taken since Henry James. The problem was the masses 246 00:16:56,242 --> 00:16:57,082 Speaker 3: didn't agree. 247 00:16:57,642 --> 00:16:59,402 Speaker 2: The critics generally like it. 248 00:16:59,522 --> 00:17:03,122 Speaker 5: He gets favorable reviews, but for some reason, the public 249 00:17:03,322 --> 00:17:05,162 Speaker 5: just wasn't that into it. 250 00:17:05,162 --> 00:17:08,962 Speaker 2: It sold less than his books. 251 00:17:08,122 --> 00:17:11,082 Speaker 5: And it just broke his heart because he had such 252 00:17:11,162 --> 00:17:13,762 Speaker 5: high hopes and expectations and it just fell so far 253 00:17:13,842 --> 00:17:17,922 Speaker 5: short of those. He considered the book and himself a failure. 254 00:17:18,682 --> 00:17:23,922 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald's charmed life began to unravel. For starters, there were 255 00:17:24,042 --> 00:17:28,122 Speaker 3: money issues. This side of Paradise and the beautiful and 256 00:17:28,322 --> 00:17:33,242 Speaker 3: Damned had subsidized his and a Zelda's extravagant lifestyle in 257 00:17:33,282 --> 00:17:37,602 Speaker 3: those first few years of marriage with Gatsby. The well 258 00:17:37,802 --> 00:17:42,602 Speaker 3: more or less dried up. In nineteen twenty seven, Fitzgerald 259 00:17:42,682 --> 00:17:46,042 Speaker 3: barely cracked one hundred and fifty dollars in royalties from 260 00:17:46,082 --> 00:17:51,322 Speaker 3: his three novels and three short story collections combined. To 261 00:17:51,362 --> 00:17:55,802 Speaker 3: stay afloat, he had to churn out magazine articles, which 262 00:17:55,882 --> 00:17:59,602 Speaker 3: zapped up all of his creative energy and kept him 263 00:17:59,682 --> 00:18:04,202 Speaker 3: in what one literary historian would later describe as a 264 00:18:04,362 --> 00:18:09,842 Speaker 3: quote cycle of debt and tees temporary wealth. Then, of course, 265 00:18:09,922 --> 00:18:12,682 Speaker 3: there was Fitzgerald's personal life. 266 00:18:13,362 --> 00:18:15,482 Speaker 5: He was drinking a lot, and that really did not 267 00:18:15,562 --> 00:18:17,962 Speaker 5: help his writing career. He and Zelda had a lot 268 00:18:17,962 --> 00:18:19,602 Speaker 5: of drama in their marriage. 269 00:18:19,762 --> 00:18:20,882 Speaker 2: They both thought. 270 00:18:20,642 --> 00:18:22,882 Speaker 5: Each other was having an affair on and off, and 271 00:18:22,882 --> 00:18:25,882 Speaker 5: then Zelda's mental state was declining at the same time, 272 00:18:26,522 --> 00:18:30,202 Speaker 5: So his personal life was unraveling. He was drinking too much, 273 00:18:30,202 --> 00:18:33,322 Speaker 5: and his health was not good, and his writing career 274 00:18:33,402 --> 00:18:36,562 Speaker 5: seemed to be dead. Like he just did not think 275 00:18:36,602 --> 00:18:40,162 Speaker 5: that he was ever going to write anything that would 276 00:18:40,282 --> 00:18:44,322 Speaker 5: have the artistry and the quality that he thought he 277 00:18:44,442 --> 00:18:47,842 Speaker 5: could actually write but no one seemed to see it. 278 00:18:49,482 --> 00:18:54,642 Speaker 3: In the nineteen thirties, Zelda would start spending more time institutionalized. 279 00:18:55,202 --> 00:18:59,362 Speaker 3: At one point, Fitzgerald jotted down the following observation in 280 00:18:59,482 --> 00:19:00,842 Speaker 3: a notebook. 281 00:19:01,042 --> 00:19:03,882 Speaker 1: I'm living very cheaply. It was funny coming into the 282 00:19:03,882 --> 00:19:07,322 Speaker 1: hotel and a very deferential clerk, not knowing I was 283 00:19:07,402 --> 00:19:11,002 Speaker 1: not only thousands, nay tens of thousands in debt, but 284 00:19:11,082 --> 00:19:13,922 Speaker 1: had less than forty cents cash in the world, and 285 00:19:14,002 --> 00:19:16,602 Speaker 1: probably a thirteen dollars deficit at my bank. 286 00:19:17,162 --> 00:19:21,202 Speaker 3: In nineteen thirty six, in an essay for Esquire titled 287 00:19:21,362 --> 00:19:24,642 Speaker 3: The Crack Up, the same essay that would be referenced 288 00:19:24,682 --> 00:19:28,762 Speaker 3: in the headline of his New York Times obituary, Fitzgerald 289 00:19:29,082 --> 00:19:31,162 Speaker 3: likened himself to a cracked plate. 290 00:19:31,922 --> 00:19:34,882 Speaker 1: Of course, all life is a process of breaking down. 291 00:19:35,442 --> 00:19:38,442 Speaker 1: But the blows that do the dramatic side of the work, 292 00:19:38,562 --> 00:19:41,322 Speaker 1: the big sudden blows that come or seem to come 293 00:19:41,362 --> 00:19:44,402 Speaker 1: from outside, the ones you remember and blame things on 294 00:19:44,882 --> 00:19:48,362 Speaker 1: and in moments of weakness tell your friends about, don't 295 00:19:48,362 --> 00:19:51,362 Speaker 1: show their effect all at once. There is another sort 296 00:19:51,402 --> 00:19:54,602 Speaker 1: of blow that comes from within that you don't feel 297 00:19:54,682 --> 00:19:57,962 Speaker 1: until it's too late to do anything about it until 298 00:19:58,002 --> 00:20:01,642 Speaker 1: you realized with finality that in some regard you will 299 00:20:01,642 --> 00:20:03,402 Speaker 1: never be as good a man again. 300 00:20:04,322 --> 00:20:08,402 Speaker 3: One evening in nineteen forty, a few years into their relationship, 301 00:20:08,802 --> 00:20:13,042 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald and Sheila Graham were strolling along Hollywood Boulevard after 302 00:20:13,082 --> 00:20:16,322 Speaker 3: a film preview. They saw a small shop with a 303 00:20:16,362 --> 00:20:20,202 Speaker 3: sign that read make your own records, hear yourself speak. 304 00:20:20,882 --> 00:20:26,282 Speaker 3: The couple went inside and Fitzgerald recorded four readings, including 305 00:20:26,402 --> 00:20:30,402 Speaker 3: the scene from Act one of Othello, where Othello wins 306 00:20:30,562 --> 00:20:34,962 Speaker 3: Desdemona's love. It's one of the few known recordings of 307 00:20:35,002 --> 00:20:37,802 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald's voice that survives to this day. 308 00:20:39,002 --> 00:20:41,282 Speaker 7: She baddened me, if I had a friend that loved us, 309 00:20:42,082 --> 00:20:44,402 Speaker 7: I should but teach him how to tell my story, 310 00:20:44,922 --> 00:20:49,322 Speaker 7: and that would work. Upon this hint, I state she 311 00:20:49,482 --> 00:20:53,122 Speaker 7: loved me for the danger's eyed past. I love her 312 00:20:53,802 --> 00:20:59,482 Speaker 7: that she did pity them. This only the witchcraft I 313 00:20:59,562 --> 00:21:00,042 Speaker 7: have viewed. 314 00:21:01,802 --> 00:21:05,842 Speaker 3: Listening to the recording. Years later, Graham would remark that 315 00:21:05,882 --> 00:21:10,082 Speaker 3: she was quote surprised at the deep, professorial tone of 316 00:21:10,122 --> 00:21:13,362 Speaker 3: his voice, much lower than it was in real life. 317 00:21:14,162 --> 00:21:19,642 Speaker 3: Perhaps even then he was speaking for posterity. Months after 318 00:21:19,682 --> 00:21:25,042 Speaker 3: reciting those lines, Fitzgerald's heart stopped beating in Graham's apartment. 319 00:21:25,762 --> 00:21:31,002 Speaker 3: He died largely forgotten by the literary world, his repertoire 320 00:21:31,082 --> 00:21:35,722 Speaker 3: clouded by one unfinished novel and another consigned to the 321 00:21:35,842 --> 00:21:36,522 Speaker 3: dust bin. 322 00:21:36,842 --> 00:21:37,882 Speaker 2: With The Great Gatsby. 323 00:21:37,962 --> 00:21:41,402 Speaker 5: Part of what really doomed it was after it was published. 324 00:21:41,402 --> 00:21:43,442 Speaker 5: There was a great depression, so no one wanted to 325 00:21:43,522 --> 00:21:48,162 Speaker 5: read about Jay Gatsby's fancy parties. Nobody was having fancy parties. 326 00:21:48,202 --> 00:21:53,242 Speaker 5: Everybody was miserable. Fitzgerald very much fell out of favor 327 00:21:53,482 --> 00:21:56,002 Speaker 5: because the type of book that he was associated with 328 00:21:56,722 --> 00:21:58,802 Speaker 5: was not the type of book that people were reading, 329 00:21:58,882 --> 00:22:01,922 Speaker 5: and it didn't seem to reflect the state of American society. 330 00:22:02,322 --> 00:22:04,842 Speaker 3: By nineteen forty, says Manning. 331 00:22:04,882 --> 00:22:06,442 Speaker 2: No one remembered the Great Gatsby. 332 00:22:07,122 --> 00:22:10,682 Speaker 3: But that, of course, wasn't the end of the story. 333 00:22:11,202 --> 00:22:15,682 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald's Great American Novel was destined for a comeback that 334 00:22:15,882 --> 00:22:20,562 Speaker 3: no one, especially not the author himself, could have predicted. 335 00:22:24,642 --> 00:22:27,922 Speaker 3: At the time of Fitzgerald's death, Pearl Harbor was still 336 00:22:27,962 --> 00:22:31,482 Speaker 3: a year away, but in America the drums of war 337 00:22:31,642 --> 00:22:35,842 Speaker 3: were getting louder. The fall of France to Nazi Germany 338 00:22:35,962 --> 00:22:40,962 Speaker 3: in June of nineteen forty rattled the US, awakening leaders 339 00:22:40,962 --> 00:22:45,082 Speaker 3: and civilians alike to the reality that they weren't immune 340 00:22:45,162 --> 00:22:49,762 Speaker 3: to the horrors unfolding in Europe. America needed to prepare, 341 00:22:50,522 --> 00:22:56,002 Speaker 3: and so in September nineteen forty, Congress passed the Selective 342 00:22:56,042 --> 00:23:01,122 Speaker 3: Training and Service Act, compelling sixteen point five million men 343 00:23:01,522 --> 00:23:04,682 Speaker 3: between the ages of twenty one and thirty five to 344 00:23:04,882 --> 00:23:05,922 Speaker 3: register for the. 345 00:23:05,962 --> 00:23:12,402 Speaker 8: Draft, America's most ethical call to arms and preparedness. Millions 346 00:23:12,402 --> 00:23:15,442 Speaker 8: of men from twenty one to thirty six line up 347 00:23:15,482 --> 00:23:18,682 Speaker 8: and sign up throughout the nation. With the safety of 348 00:23:18,682 --> 00:23:22,922 Speaker 8: America threatening, all Americans, the humble and the mighty willingly 349 00:23:23,042 --> 00:23:24,562 Speaker 8: embrace selective service. 350 00:23:25,642 --> 00:23:30,322 Speaker 3: The government set about the monumental task of building dozens 351 00:23:30,362 --> 00:23:35,002 Speaker 3: of training camps to house these conscripted recruits. But things 352 00:23:35,082 --> 00:23:38,522 Speaker 3: were moving fast, and the men began showing up before 353 00:23:38,562 --> 00:23:42,442 Speaker 3: the camps were completed. In the most dire scenarios, they 354 00:23:42,602 --> 00:23:47,202 Speaker 3: arrived to swathes of barren land. In other instances, the 355 00:23:47,242 --> 00:23:53,002 Speaker 3: facilities that had been erected were woefully inadequate. One camp 356 00:23:53,202 --> 00:23:58,362 Speaker 3: was described as a quote hellhole, dirty, stinking, and muddy. 357 00:23:59,002 --> 00:24:03,122 Speaker 3: Something needed to be done to lift the soldiers cratering 358 00:24:03,322 --> 00:24:07,282 Speaker 3: morale and fast. The answer the books. 359 00:24:08,162 --> 00:24:11,642 Speaker 5: They had plans to build movie theaters and to offer 360 00:24:12,202 --> 00:24:14,962 Speaker 5: athletics and do things like that, but they didn't have 361 00:24:15,122 --> 00:24:17,562 Speaker 5: the chance to build barracks, so they didn't have time 362 00:24:17,562 --> 00:24:18,642 Speaker 5: to build facilities. 363 00:24:18,962 --> 00:24:20,202 Speaker 2: And so librarians were. 364 00:24:20,082 --> 00:24:22,322 Speaker 5: Watching what was happening, and they realized, if we could 365 00:24:22,402 --> 00:24:26,642 Speaker 5: just send boxes of books, a soldier could just grab 366 00:24:26,642 --> 00:24:29,002 Speaker 5: a book and read, and that would give them some entertainment, 367 00:24:29,402 --> 00:24:31,242 Speaker 5: especially at night when there was nothing to do. 368 00:24:32,122 --> 00:24:35,402 Speaker 3: Our friend Mollie Guptil Manning wrote about this in her 369 00:24:35,442 --> 00:24:40,282 Speaker 3: twenty fourteen New York Times bestseller When Books Went to War. 370 00:24:40,922 --> 00:24:44,162 Speaker 5: That's where these book drives really started, and what the 371 00:24:44,202 --> 00:24:48,162 Speaker 5: military discovered was that soldiers actually did enjoy reading books, 372 00:24:48,802 --> 00:24:51,842 Speaker 5: and there was just never enough of them. So librarians 373 00:24:51,882 --> 00:24:56,082 Speaker 5: would host community book drives and just have people bring 374 00:24:56,162 --> 00:24:58,682 Speaker 5: whatever books they had purchased at some point and no 375 00:24:58,762 --> 00:25:02,522 Speaker 5: longer needed, They could bring them to these book drives. 376 00:25:02,842 --> 00:25:07,242 Speaker 3: The book drives became even more crucial once America entered 377 00:25:07,282 --> 00:25:11,362 Speaker 3: the war in nineteen forty two. Troops were being deployed 378 00:25:11,482 --> 00:25:15,642 Speaker 3: all over the world, including to places where there wasn't 379 00:25:15,682 --> 00:25:20,442 Speaker 3: really well much of anything. US officials saw books as 380 00:25:20,522 --> 00:25:23,362 Speaker 3: a vital tool for lifting spirits. 381 00:25:24,122 --> 00:25:27,722 Speaker 5: The government ended up sanctioning a nationwide book drive called 382 00:25:27,722 --> 00:25:31,202 Speaker 5: the Victory Book Campaign that began in nineteen forty two. 383 00:25:31,642 --> 00:25:35,162 Speaker 5: They collected ten million donated books from the public, and 384 00:25:35,242 --> 00:25:37,922 Speaker 5: it was renewed to nineteen forty three and another eight 385 00:25:38,002 --> 00:25:40,482 Speaker 5: million books were donated, and all of them went to 386 00:25:41,122 --> 00:25:43,562 Speaker 5: the Army and the Navy and the Marine Corps. 387 00:25:44,082 --> 00:25:45,362 Speaker 2: The work of the Victory Book. 388 00:25:45,122 --> 00:25:49,322 Speaker 5: Campaign was really important because these books became a lifeline. 389 00:25:49,482 --> 00:25:52,482 Speaker 5: It was really comforting to actually have something tangible that 390 00:25:52,522 --> 00:25:56,122 Speaker 5: they could hold in their hands that reminded them of home. 391 00:25:57,082 --> 00:26:02,002 Speaker 3: While everyday Americans were hauling their used hardcovers to donation sites, 392 00:26:02,482 --> 00:26:07,642 Speaker 3: a kindred effort was unfolding among New York's intelligensia. A 393 00:26:07,682 --> 00:26:12,202 Speaker 3: group called the Council on Books in Wartime began meeting 394 00:26:12,362 --> 00:26:17,762 Speaker 3: in spring of nineteen forty two. Members ranged from librarians 395 00:26:17,762 --> 00:26:21,762 Speaker 3: and booksellers to the editor of Publishers Weekly and Cyrus 396 00:26:21,802 --> 00:26:27,442 Speaker 3: Sulzberger of The New York Times, two representatives from Random House, W. W. 397 00:26:27,682 --> 00:26:31,602 Speaker 3: Norton and Co. And all the other major imprints. Their 398 00:26:31,682 --> 00:26:35,482 Speaker 3: stated goal was quote to bring before the public the 399 00:26:35,602 --> 00:26:39,842 Speaker 3: concept of books as weapons in the war of ideas. 400 00:26:40,482 --> 00:26:43,962 Speaker 3: In other words, if the Nazis were going to burn books, 401 00:26:44,322 --> 00:26:47,082 Speaker 3: America was going to champion them. 402 00:26:47,122 --> 00:26:51,482 Speaker 5: Exercising the freedom to read. That's actually practicing democracy, and 403 00:26:51,522 --> 00:26:54,162 Speaker 5: so reading really was a sign of protest, and it 404 00:26:54,202 --> 00:26:57,082 Speaker 5: was a way for people to show that they practiced 405 00:26:57,202 --> 00:26:59,762 Speaker 5: freedom and that they resisted the Nazis. 406 00:27:00,442 --> 00:27:03,362 Speaker 3: By the fall of nineteen forty two, the Council on 407 00:27:03,482 --> 00:27:06,922 Speaker 3: Books in Wartime was starting to put its ideas into practice. 408 00:27:07,042 --> 00:27:10,322 Speaker 3: This quote. Plans are on foot to make it the 409 00:27:10,442 --> 00:27:14,042 Speaker 3: focal point for cooperation between the book publishers and the 410 00:27:14,162 --> 00:27:18,522 Speaker 3: various government information agencies, the group said in a statement. 411 00:27:19,122 --> 00:27:22,882 Speaker 3: The cooperation of the Office of War Information has already 412 00:27:22,882 --> 00:27:27,642 Speaker 3: been secured. The Washington Committee recently spent a most successful 413 00:27:27,722 --> 00:27:33,082 Speaker 3: day discussing with ten government agencies problems relating to books 414 00:27:33,202 --> 00:27:37,162 Speaker 3: in the war effort. One problem was the perception that 415 00:27:37,202 --> 00:27:41,362 Speaker 3: the books being donated to the soldiers were throwaways, stuff 416 00:27:41,402 --> 00:27:44,042 Speaker 3: that no one else wanted to read. But the main 417 00:27:44,122 --> 00:27:46,042 Speaker 3: issue was practical in nature. 418 00:27:46,442 --> 00:27:49,962 Speaker 5: For troops, like, for example, in North Africa, they would 419 00:27:50,002 --> 00:27:53,282 Speaker 5: be marching for miles a day, and so if they 420 00:27:53,322 --> 00:27:56,562 Speaker 5: had a book and it was a hardcover book. The 421 00:27:56,562 --> 00:27:58,562 Speaker 5: weight of it and the amount of space that it 422 00:27:58,602 --> 00:28:00,842 Speaker 5: would take up in their pack. 423 00:28:01,802 --> 00:28:02,922 Speaker 2: It wasn't negligible. 424 00:28:03,162 --> 00:28:07,042 Speaker 5: There's reports of troops just begrudgingly putting it out on 425 00:28:07,082 --> 00:28:08,642 Speaker 5: the ground and walking. 426 00:28:08,962 --> 00:28:12,562 Speaker 2: On because it was just too heavy to carry. 427 00:28:12,442 --> 00:28:15,282 Speaker 5: Even though they really wanted to have the distraction of 428 00:28:15,322 --> 00:28:17,242 Speaker 5: a story when they had downtime. 429 00:28:17,922 --> 00:28:21,722 Speaker 3: A young officer named Ray Troutman, who headed the Army's 430 00:28:21,882 --> 00:28:26,362 Speaker 3: Library section, had an idea. What if the military could 431 00:28:26,402 --> 00:28:31,202 Speaker 3: convince publishers to reprint titles from their back catalogs in 432 00:28:31,282 --> 00:28:34,682 Speaker 3: a paperback format small enough that it could be tucked 433 00:28:34,722 --> 00:28:40,082 Speaker 3: away inside the pockets of a standard uniform. Troutman pitched 434 00:28:40,082 --> 00:28:42,922 Speaker 3: it to the Council, which was keen on the notion 435 00:28:43,082 --> 00:28:49,362 Speaker 3: of mass producing miniature, inexpensive paperbacks to American troops overseas. 436 00:28:50,042 --> 00:28:53,362 Speaker 3: In fact, the Council liked the idea so much that 437 00:28:53,442 --> 00:28:59,682 Speaker 3: it proposed spearheading the entire project. William Warder Norton, the 438 00:28:59,762 --> 00:29:03,362 Speaker 3: president of W. W. Norton in Company, put together a 439 00:29:03,482 --> 00:29:07,962 Speaker 3: detailed operational plan that he negotiated with the Armed Forces 440 00:29:08,522 --> 00:29:12,602 Speaker 3: and among the publishers themselves. In addition to the Army 441 00:29:12,842 --> 00:29:18,042 Speaker 3: Navy and War Production Board, some seventy publishing companies and 442 00:29:18,242 --> 00:29:22,682 Speaker 3: more than a dozen printing houses and suppliers joined the fight. 443 00:29:23,442 --> 00:29:27,002 Speaker 3: As Norton put it, quote, this is the most valuable 444 00:29:27,082 --> 00:29:30,922 Speaker 3: thing that bookmen can undertake in the conduct of the war. 445 00:29:31,682 --> 00:29:34,762 Speaker 5: The Council on Books in Wartime consisted of every major 446 00:29:34,802 --> 00:29:38,082 Speaker 5: and minor publisher in the United States, and so all 447 00:29:38,122 --> 00:29:42,402 Speaker 5: of the publishers were asked to submit lists of titles 448 00:29:42,442 --> 00:29:45,362 Speaker 5: that would be appealing to young men. You had a 449 00:29:45,362 --> 00:29:48,682 Speaker 5: lot of best sellers, you had short story collections, you 450 00:29:48,722 --> 00:29:52,082 Speaker 5: had books on sports, really a smattering of everything. 451 00:29:52,642 --> 00:29:56,202 Speaker 3: Publishers agreed to sell books to the military at the 452 00:29:56,242 --> 00:30:01,002 Speaker 3: cost of manufacturing them about six cents a volume, plus 453 00:30:01,042 --> 00:30:04,602 Speaker 3: ten percent for overhead. The books would be kept out 454 00:30:04,642 --> 00:30:10,242 Speaker 3: of the civilian market and exclusive distributed overseas. Authors and 455 00:30:10,402 --> 00:30:15,562 Speaker 3: publishers each received royalties of one half cent per copy. 456 00:30:16,202 --> 00:30:19,602 Speaker 3: The books were printed on magazine presses and then cut 457 00:30:19,682 --> 00:30:23,002 Speaker 3: in half so you could make two with each printing. 458 00:30:23,642 --> 00:30:26,962 Speaker 3: The organizers came up with a name for these pint 459 00:30:27,162 --> 00:30:33,522 Speaker 3: sized paperbacks. Armed Services Editions thousands of popular books to 460 00:30:33,562 --> 00:30:37,642 Speaker 3: be given out to servicemen. The Associated Press reported in 461 00:30:37,682 --> 00:30:42,442 Speaker 3: a story announcing the program. These special paper bound, pocket 462 00:30:42,522 --> 00:30:47,362 Speaker 3: sized editions will be manufactured by various printing plants throughout 463 00:30:47,402 --> 00:30:51,202 Speaker 3: the country on presses not normally employed in the printing 464 00:30:51,322 --> 00:30:56,322 Speaker 3: of books on paper supplied from Armed Services requirements, so 465 00:30:56,362 --> 00:30:58,842 Speaker 3: that the cost will be the lowest in the history 466 00:30:58,882 --> 00:31:03,922 Speaker 3: of the industry. The initial Armed Services editions started going 467 00:31:03,962 --> 00:31:08,482 Speaker 3: out in September nineteen forty three, and they reached troops 468 00:31:08,562 --> 00:31:09,962 Speaker 3: a couple months later. 469 00:31:10,722 --> 00:31:14,282 Speaker 5: The reaction generally was that soldiers could not believe that 470 00:31:14,282 --> 00:31:19,322 Speaker 5: they were publishers back home who were bothering to create 471 00:31:19,362 --> 00:31:22,722 Speaker 5: these specially sized paperback books that would fit their uniform 472 00:31:22,842 --> 00:31:27,162 Speaker 5: pockets so that they would have something to do in 473 00:31:27,242 --> 00:31:28,282 Speaker 5: all of their downtime. 474 00:31:29,202 --> 00:31:33,242 Speaker 2: Immediately, reading just took off within the US military. 475 00:31:33,802 --> 00:31:37,002 Speaker 3: The very first title to roll off the presses was 476 00:31:37,362 --> 00:31:41,882 Speaker 3: The Education of Hyman Kaplan, a collection of stories published 477 00:31:41,922 --> 00:31:46,322 Speaker 3: in The New Yorker by the humorist Leo Roston. Letters 478 00:31:46,362 --> 00:31:49,202 Speaker 3: from grateful servicemen filled his mailbox. 479 00:31:49,922 --> 00:31:53,682 Speaker 6: I want to thank you profoundly for myself and more importantly, 480 00:31:53,882 --> 00:31:56,082 Speaker 6: for the men here in this god forsaken part of 481 00:31:56,122 --> 00:31:59,282 Speaker 6: the globe. Last week we received your book. I read 482 00:31:59,322 --> 00:32:02,802 Speaker 6: it and simply roared with laughter. As an experiment, I 483 00:32:02,882 --> 00:32:06,202 Speaker 6: read it one night at campfire. The men howled. I 484 00:32:06,202 --> 00:32:08,242 Speaker 6: have not heard so laughs in months. 485 00:32:09,042 --> 00:32:13,562 Speaker 3: Another popular Armed Services edition, perhaps the most popular of all, 486 00:32:14,202 --> 00:32:18,242 Speaker 3: was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. After 487 00:32:18,282 --> 00:32:23,202 Speaker 3: it arrived overseas, Smith received thousands of letters of appreciation. 488 00:32:24,042 --> 00:32:27,402 Speaker 3: One Service member called it a quote source of never 489 00:32:27,562 --> 00:32:32,082 Speaker 3: ending enjoyment. Another told Smith that because of the book quote, 490 00:32:32,402 --> 00:32:35,482 Speaker 3: this heart of mine turned over and became alive again. 491 00:32:36,602 --> 00:32:39,042 Speaker 5: Obviously, the book takes place in Brooklyn, but you'd have 492 00:32:39,162 --> 00:32:42,362 Speaker 5: people who grew up on a farm and they would 493 00:32:42,402 --> 00:32:44,402 Speaker 5: just say, you know, the way that family was, it 494 00:32:44,482 --> 00:32:47,722 Speaker 5: reminded me of my family, or the description of her 495 00:32:47,722 --> 00:32:49,682 Speaker 5: walking down the street reminded what it was like for 496 00:32:49,722 --> 00:32:51,922 Speaker 5: me to walk down the street in my hometown. It 497 00:32:51,962 --> 00:32:55,122 Speaker 5: was like troops just transplanted themselves into that book, and 498 00:32:55,162 --> 00:32:58,042 Speaker 5: it was such a precious reminder of home that it 499 00:32:58,202 --> 00:33:02,122 Speaker 5: just made them nostalgic and also hopeful, I think, to 500 00:33:02,202 --> 00:33:06,882 Speaker 5: one day return back to their families and see those hometowns. 501 00:33:07,042 --> 00:33:09,802 Speaker 5: In some ways made them understand what they were fighting for. 502 00:33:10,522 --> 00:33:14,482 Speaker 3: Overall, the Armed Services editions became so popular that the 503 00:33:14,522 --> 00:33:17,802 Speaker 3: Council was producing forty of them a month, at one 504 00:33:17,882 --> 00:33:22,322 Speaker 3: hundred and fifty five thousand copies each. That's six point 505 00:33:22,362 --> 00:33:26,682 Speaker 3: two million books every month. Books of all sorts, from 506 00:33:26,842 --> 00:33:32,082 Speaker 3: sports and other nonfiction titles to mysteries, westerns and adventure 507 00:33:32,122 --> 00:33:35,922 Speaker 3: novels to classic literature by the likes of Charles Dickens 508 00:33:35,922 --> 00:33:41,002 Speaker 3: At Garland, Poe Herman, Melville, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Jack London, 509 00:33:41,122 --> 00:33:46,002 Speaker 3: Henry David Thoreau, and Leo Tolstoy. The Council received bags 510 00:33:46,042 --> 00:33:51,282 Speaker 3: of mail lauding the efforts. Armed services. Editions continued to 511 00:33:51,322 --> 00:33:54,642 Speaker 3: play a role even after the war was won. By 512 00:33:54,682 --> 00:33:58,842 Speaker 3: the end of nineteen forty five, Germany and Japan had 513 00:33:58,882 --> 00:34:02,522 Speaker 3: both surrendered, and yet there were still a whole lot 514 00:34:02,602 --> 00:34:07,522 Speaker 3: of troops stationed abroad, celebrating victory, happy to be alive, 515 00:34:08,002 --> 00:34:12,122 Speaker 3: but mostly just sitting around waiting to come home. They 516 00:34:12,122 --> 00:34:15,762 Speaker 3: were bored, and the armed forces needed more books to 517 00:34:15,882 --> 00:34:20,002 Speaker 3: keep them occupied. The problem was publishers were getting a 518 00:34:20,042 --> 00:34:24,322 Speaker 3: little desperate. They'd gone through so many popular titles over 519 00:34:24,362 --> 00:34:27,522 Speaker 3: the past two years that there wasn't all that much 520 00:34:27,602 --> 00:34:31,722 Speaker 3: left to choose from, and so they started scraping the 521 00:34:31,762 --> 00:34:36,442 Speaker 3: bottom of the barrel. Digging deeper into their backlists. It's 522 00:34:36,442 --> 00:34:39,322 Speaker 3: a good thing they did, because they were about to 523 00:34:39,402 --> 00:34:51,322 Speaker 3: pluck a masterpiece from obscurity. In September of nineteen forty five, 524 00:34:51,482 --> 00:34:54,362 Speaker 3: the Council on Books in Wartime issued a list of 525 00:34:54,402 --> 00:34:58,122 Speaker 3: the seven hundred and forty four Armed Services editions it 526 00:34:58,162 --> 00:35:02,682 Speaker 3: had published to date. Contemporary fiction comprised the line share 527 00:35:03,082 --> 00:35:06,562 Speaker 3: with one hundred and twenty seven titles, followed by ninety 528 00:35:06,562 --> 00:35:11,962 Speaker 3: one humor titles, eighty nine historical novels, and eighty eight westerns. 529 00:35:12,002 --> 00:35:16,402 Speaker 3: In total, more than ninety million copies had been delivered 530 00:35:16,442 --> 00:35:20,682 Speaker 3: into the hands of servicemen. Around this time, editors at 531 00:35:20,762 --> 00:35:25,202 Speaker 3: Charles Scribner's Sons were scrounging around for additional works to 532 00:35:25,322 --> 00:35:29,642 Speaker 3: submit to the program. There are no records indicating why 533 00:35:29,682 --> 00:35:33,642 Speaker 3: they chose The Great Gatsby, but it's been noted that 534 00:35:33,722 --> 00:35:36,562 Speaker 3: one of the librarians who worked for the Council in 535 00:35:36,642 --> 00:35:41,322 Speaker 3: nineteen forty five was a Fitzgerald fan. He had corresponded 536 00:35:41,362 --> 00:35:44,802 Speaker 3: with the author in the nineteen thirties. Maybe he had 537 00:35:44,842 --> 00:35:48,522 Speaker 3: a hand in it. Here's what Molly Guptel Manning thinks. 538 00:35:49,242 --> 00:35:52,642 Speaker 5: Scribners must have gone back to look at books that 539 00:35:52,682 --> 00:35:55,682 Speaker 5: it had produced in the twenties, because it had already 540 00:35:55,882 --> 00:35:58,522 Speaker 5: exhausted the books from the forties and the thirties. 541 00:35:59,082 --> 00:36:00,282 Speaker 2: The name recognition of f. 542 00:36:00,322 --> 00:36:04,762 Speaker 5: Scott Fitzgerald was still very much a thing, and troops 543 00:36:04,802 --> 00:36:08,642 Speaker 5: loved magazines. They definitely read the Saturday Evening posts and 544 00:36:08,682 --> 00:36:12,122 Speaker 5: would have been familiar with Scott Fitzgerald's stories, and so 545 00:36:12,482 --> 00:36:15,402 Speaker 5: I think that's why scribners ended up choosing The Great Gatsby. 546 00:36:16,882 --> 00:36:20,522 Speaker 3: The Armed Services edition of The Great Gatsby was printed 547 00:36:20,602 --> 00:36:24,802 Speaker 3: in October nineteen forty five. More than one hundred and 548 00:36:24,802 --> 00:36:29,962 Speaker 3: twenty five thousand copies were shipped to servicemen awaiting their homecomings. 549 00:36:30,402 --> 00:36:33,442 Speaker 3: That's more than four times the number of copies that 550 00:36:33,482 --> 00:36:37,122 Speaker 3: had ever been sold, including the mere one hundred and 551 00:36:37,162 --> 00:36:41,362 Speaker 3: twenty copies sold in nineteen forty four. You also have 552 00:36:41,442 --> 00:36:44,802 Speaker 3: to take into account the extent to which Armed Services 553 00:36:44,962 --> 00:36:50,082 Speaker 3: editions got passed around, as troops traded titles after reading 554 00:36:50,122 --> 00:36:54,442 Speaker 3: them during periods of combat. It was estimated that each 555 00:36:54,602 --> 00:36:59,162 Speaker 3: edition would be read three or four times. When conditions 556 00:36:59,202 --> 00:37:02,202 Speaker 3: were peaceful, say like if you were sitting around on 557 00:37:02,322 --> 00:37:06,002 Speaker 3: an occupied island in the Pacific, the book could make 558 00:37:06,042 --> 00:37:09,682 Speaker 3: it to ten or more readings as they changed hands. 559 00:37:10,442 --> 00:37:13,202 Speaker 3: Troops waiting to come home in the fall of nineteen 560 00:37:13,322 --> 00:37:17,642 Speaker 3: forty five had very little to do, at least compared 561 00:37:17,682 --> 00:37:20,962 Speaker 3: to their service during the war, and they were reading 562 00:37:21,122 --> 00:37:21,842 Speaker 3: more than ever. 563 00:37:22,362 --> 00:37:24,242 Speaker 5: You could say, the one hundred and twenty five thousand 564 00:37:24,602 --> 00:37:28,402 Speaker 5: copies of The Great Gatsby in Armed Services Edition format 565 00:37:28,402 --> 00:37:32,282 Speaker 5: were probably read by maybe even a million soldiers, because 566 00:37:32,362 --> 00:37:34,442 Speaker 5: it was a policy that you read the book and 567 00:37:34,482 --> 00:37:36,282 Speaker 5: then you shared it with the next guy who wanted 568 00:37:36,282 --> 00:37:36,762 Speaker 5: to read it. 569 00:37:37,522 --> 00:37:40,402 Speaker 3: Twenty years after The Great gats We failed to catch 570 00:37:40,442 --> 00:37:44,042 Speaker 3: fire with the masses. It now had a captive audience 571 00:37:44,082 --> 00:37:48,722 Speaker 3: of predominantly young men who were enthralled by its subject matter. 572 00:37:49,322 --> 00:37:53,322 Speaker 5: Their whole time away at war, they were fantasizing about 573 00:37:53,322 --> 00:37:56,722 Speaker 5: going home, and there's such a great sense of fantasy 574 00:37:56,802 --> 00:37:58,962 Speaker 5: in that book. You know, a version of life where 575 00:37:59,042 --> 00:38:01,362 Speaker 5: you can strike it rich and you can go to 576 00:38:01,402 --> 00:38:05,122 Speaker 5: great parties and you can have this incredible life. And 577 00:38:05,202 --> 00:38:07,442 Speaker 5: I think that was really appealing to Soul series. 578 00:38:08,002 --> 00:38:12,642 Speaker 3: The timing was fortuitous. Literary critics had recently begun to 579 00:38:12,762 --> 00:38:18,122 Speaker 3: reconsider Fitzgerald. In nineteen forty four, Charles Weir Junior published 580 00:38:18,122 --> 00:38:22,202 Speaker 3: an essay in the Virginia Quarterly Review, which he posited 581 00:38:22,362 --> 00:38:26,842 Speaker 3: that quote. Only in The Great Gatsby did Fitzgerald succeed 582 00:38:26,962 --> 00:38:30,322 Speaker 3: in putting any amount of material into a form which 583 00:38:30,442 --> 00:38:35,642 Speaker 3: was truly significant and expressive. In July nineteen forty, five 584 00:38:35,802 --> 00:38:41,402 Speaker 3: months before Gatsby's Armed Services Edition debut, Edmund Wilson edited 585 00:38:41,442 --> 00:38:47,282 Speaker 3: a posthumous essay collection of Fitzgerald's works for Esquire, including 586 00:38:47,442 --> 00:38:51,402 Speaker 3: The Crackup. Around the same time, a reprint of The 587 00:38:51,442 --> 00:38:57,082 Speaker 3: Great Gatsby hit shelves from New Directions Publishing. In the introduction, 588 00:38:57,722 --> 00:39:02,122 Speaker 3: Lionel Trilling wrote, quote, Fitzgerald is now beginning to take 589 00:39:02,162 --> 00:39:07,282 Speaker 3: his place in our literary tradition. Other reprints came from 590 00:39:07,482 --> 00:39:13,442 Speaker 3: Viking and Bantam Books, but Gatsby's popularity among soldiers helped 591 00:39:13,522 --> 00:39:17,922 Speaker 3: spark its mass market revival. In their letters to left Ones, 592 00:39:18,322 --> 00:39:22,122 Speaker 3: soldiers would talk about books they were reading. Their gats 593 00:39:22,202 --> 00:39:26,402 Speaker 3: Be raves jibed with the post war optimism that was 594 00:39:26,442 --> 00:39:31,122 Speaker 3: now coursing through the American populace. Ordinary readers in the 595 00:39:31,282 --> 00:39:33,642 Speaker 3: US started seeking out the book. 596 00:39:34,402 --> 00:39:37,082 Speaker 5: It takes a little while for the traction to start building, 597 00:39:37,402 --> 00:39:41,162 Speaker 5: but it's noticeable the book is starting to appear on shelves. 598 00:39:41,642 --> 00:39:46,202 Speaker 5: Critics revisited it and reviewed it again, even though it 599 00:39:46,242 --> 00:39:49,322 Speaker 5: had been published, you know, almost twenty years earlier. The 600 00:39:49,362 --> 00:39:52,362 Speaker 5: war is over, people have a lot of money to spend. 601 00:39:52,882 --> 00:39:56,322 Speaker 5: The economy is booming, like it's a good time, and 602 00:39:56,402 --> 00:40:01,722 Speaker 5: so having this story about, you know, this fantastic mansion 603 00:40:01,762 --> 00:40:04,602 Speaker 5: on Long Island and these parties and things like that, 604 00:40:04,722 --> 00:40:07,602 Speaker 5: the public is very receptive to this. So now they're 605 00:40:07,642 --> 00:40:11,002 Speaker 5: starting to buy the book, and they're also enjoying it. 606 00:40:11,802 --> 00:40:16,562 Speaker 3: By nineteen sixty, Gatsby was selling one hundred thousand copies annually. 607 00:40:17,162 --> 00:40:21,042 Speaker 3: For the novel's thirty fifth anniversary that year, the literary 608 00:40:21,122 --> 00:40:25,282 Speaker 3: scholar Arthur Meisner wrote in The New York Times quote, 609 00:40:25,562 --> 00:40:29,762 Speaker 3: the obvious values of the book have been reasonably established. 610 00:40:30,202 --> 00:40:34,522 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald created an image of the good American of our time, 611 00:40:35,002 --> 00:40:39,642 Speaker 3: in all his complexity of human sympathy, firm moral judgment, 612 00:40:40,082 --> 00:40:44,402 Speaker 3: and ironic self possession. We can now afford to turn 613 00:40:44,562 --> 00:40:49,002 Speaker 3: our attention to such things, because whatever disagreements we may 614 00:40:49,082 --> 00:40:53,322 Speaker 3: have over Fitzgerald's work as a whole, there remain few 615 00:40:53,442 --> 00:40:58,002 Speaker 3: doubts of the greatness of Gatsby, or of its imaginative 616 00:40:58,122 --> 00:41:03,842 Speaker 3: relevance to American experience. Over the decades, the Great Gatsby 617 00:41:03,882 --> 00:41:07,402 Speaker 3: has taken on forms that Fitzgerald never would have thought 618 00:41:07,442 --> 00:41:10,522 Speaker 3: possible at the time of his death, like the musical 619 00:41:10,522 --> 00:41:14,842 Speaker 3: adaptation now playing on Broadway, or the twenty thirteen film 620 00:41:14,962 --> 00:41:19,522 Speaker 3: starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which grossed three hundred and fifty three 621 00:41:19,562 --> 00:41:24,442 Speaker 3: point six million dollars at the global box office. Manning 622 00:41:24,482 --> 00:41:27,962 Speaker 3: believes that we're not for the Council on Books. In wartime, 623 00:41:28,442 --> 00:41:31,762 Speaker 3: we wouldn't be talking about Gatsby one hundred years after 624 00:41:31,842 --> 00:41:33,282 Speaker 3: its ill fated debut. 625 00:41:34,162 --> 00:41:37,642 Speaker 5: There was nothing else that would infuse the book and 626 00:41:38,002 --> 00:41:41,122 Speaker 5: get it to start selling, you know, almost twenty years 627 00:41:41,162 --> 00:41:45,082 Speaker 5: after it was originally published, except for the fact that 628 00:41:45,082 --> 00:41:49,082 Speaker 5: one hundred and twenty five thousand free copies were distributed. 629 00:41:49,402 --> 00:41:51,802 Speaker 5: I mean that just lit a fire under the book. 630 00:41:52,042 --> 00:41:56,002 Speaker 5: I think every single way that the Great Gatsby has 631 00:41:56,042 --> 00:42:00,122 Speaker 5: re emerged since then, it's due to the Armed Services editions. 632 00:42:01,842 --> 00:42:07,002 Speaker 3: Today, copies of Gatsby's Armed Services edition can sell for 633 00:42:07,202 --> 00:42:11,362 Speaker 3: thousands of dollars. Manning was lucky enough to snag hers 634 00:42:11,442 --> 00:42:12,722 Speaker 3: before the market soared. 635 00:42:13,522 --> 00:42:17,282 Speaker 5: This is going to pain anybody who is a collector 636 00:42:17,322 --> 00:42:20,962 Speaker 5: of Armed Services editions today, But I started collecting the 637 00:42:21,002 --> 00:42:24,082 Speaker 5: books before I wrote one books, Front to War, because 638 00:42:24,122 --> 00:42:26,082 Speaker 5: I just wanted to see what these things looked like. 639 00:42:26,802 --> 00:42:28,522 Speaker 5: I think it took me about five years to write 640 00:42:28,562 --> 00:42:32,162 Speaker 5: that book, so that's five years of collecting. And I 641 00:42:32,162 --> 00:42:34,922 Speaker 5: would buy Armed Services editions for less than a dollar 642 00:42:36,522 --> 00:42:39,802 Speaker 5: because no one knew what they were and they just 643 00:42:39,882 --> 00:42:43,962 Speaker 5: look like these really kind of grubby little paperbacks that 644 00:42:44,042 --> 00:42:45,842 Speaker 5: don't seem all of that attractive. 645 00:42:46,522 --> 00:42:47,162 Speaker 2: So I think I. 646 00:42:47,242 --> 00:42:50,362 Speaker 5: Purchased my copy of The Great Gatsby for about ten dollars. 647 00:42:50,922 --> 00:42:53,682 Speaker 3: At the time of this recording, there were two copies 648 00:42:53,722 --> 00:42:58,402 Speaker 3: of Gatsby's Armed Services Edition available on ABE Books, which 649 00:42:58,442 --> 00:43:03,002 Speaker 3: specializes in rare and collectible texts. One was listed for 650 00:43:03,322 --> 00:43:07,362 Speaker 3: nine hundred and ninety nine dollars, the other for fourth thousand, 651 00:43:07,522 --> 00:43:11,242 Speaker 3: two hundred. You got to wonder what Fitzgerald would have 652 00:43:11,322 --> 00:43:13,762 Speaker 3: made of that if he had a crystal ball in 653 00:43:13,882 --> 00:43:17,602 Speaker 3: nineteen forty, back when he got that last royalty check 654 00:43:17,682 --> 00:43:22,242 Speaker 3: for a paltry thirteen dollars and thirteen cents. That's the 655 00:43:22,402 --> 00:43:27,002 Speaker 3: tragedy in all of this. Like many great authors before him, 656 00:43:27,282 --> 00:43:31,882 Speaker 3: Fitzgerald never got to enjoy the smashing success of his 657 00:43:32,082 --> 00:43:38,042 Speaker 3: landmark work, or to reap the financial rewards. Gatsby's initial 658 00:43:38,042 --> 00:43:42,762 Speaker 3: failure haunted him until that fateful afternoon in Sheila Graham's 659 00:43:42,802 --> 00:43:46,922 Speaker 3: apartment when he collapsed while eating Hershey Bars and reading 660 00:43:47,002 --> 00:43:50,642 Speaker 3: about the latest happenings at Princeton. He didn't know it, 661 00:43:51,042 --> 00:43:54,002 Speaker 3: or maybe he only knew it deep within the heart 662 00:43:54,162 --> 00:43:55,002 Speaker 3: that failed him. 663 00:43:55,522 --> 00:43:56,442 Speaker 1: But he was right. 664 00:43:57,082 --> 00:44:02,082 Speaker 3: He had written the great American novel, one that generations 665 00:44:02,082 --> 00:44:04,922 Speaker 3: of readers would treasure for all time. 666 00:44:05,802 --> 00:44:08,162 Speaker 5: I think if Fitzgerald that it would still be around 667 00:44:08,202 --> 00:44:08,922 Speaker 5: one hundred. 668 00:44:08,762 --> 00:44:11,202 Speaker 2: Years later, he would be smiling from his grave. 669 00:44:11,722 --> 00:44:13,922 Speaker 5: If he had known that it was going to be 670 00:44:13,962 --> 00:44:16,762 Speaker 5: as successful as it was, I think he would have 671 00:44:16,802 --> 00:44:17,762 Speaker 5: died a happy man. 672 00:44:23,202 --> 00:44:25,282 Speaker 3: I have a bit of a sad story now that 673 00:44:25,362 --> 00:44:29,042 Speaker 3: the episode's over. Really, after learning about this story and 674 00:44:29,122 --> 00:44:31,482 Speaker 3: this episode, I became obsessed. I was like, I just 675 00:44:31,602 --> 00:44:34,122 Speaker 3: I have to have an Armed Services edition of The 676 00:44:34,122 --> 00:44:36,842 Speaker 3: Great Gatsby just in my heart. I was like, I 677 00:44:36,882 --> 00:44:39,362 Speaker 3: need one as an item. I need it in my home. 678 00:44:39,442 --> 00:44:42,602 Speaker 3: I will spend money on it. And I scoured used 679 00:44:42,642 --> 00:44:46,842 Speaker 3: book websites. I found one copy left what I bought it, 680 00:44:47,242 --> 00:44:49,442 Speaker 3: and I bought it, and I was so happy, and 681 00:44:49,482 --> 00:44:52,042 Speaker 3: I like went about my day and I had like 682 00:44:52,122 --> 00:44:55,202 Speaker 3: two hours of feeling so satisfied. And then I got 683 00:44:55,242 --> 00:44:59,482 Speaker 3: an email from the bookseller saying, I'm so sorry I 684 00:44:59,522 --> 00:45:02,522 Speaker 3: had to cancel your order. I sold this yesterday. 685 00:45:02,602 --> 00:45:06,722 Speaker 1: Oh no, do you think that they really sold it yesterday? 686 00:45:06,802 --> 00:45:08,402 Speaker 1: Or they looked it up and saw how much they're 687 00:45:08,402 --> 00:45:10,762 Speaker 1: worth and they're like to hell with that? Yeah, bring 688 00:45:10,842 --> 00:45:12,282 Speaker 1: it on eBay, I know. 689 00:45:12,442 --> 00:45:14,602 Speaker 3: Or they just figured out that this episode was about 690 00:45:14,602 --> 00:45:17,282 Speaker 3: to come out and they could check the price up later. Seriously, 691 00:45:18,042 --> 00:45:20,202 Speaker 3: But now I can't find any. Now I can't find 692 00:45:20,242 --> 00:45:21,122 Speaker 3: any for any price. 693 00:45:21,322 --> 00:45:23,762 Speaker 1: I was astounded. I looked online too. The price is 694 00:45:23,882 --> 00:45:26,162 Speaker 1: like they were prohibitive. I was blown away. 695 00:45:26,322 --> 00:45:27,522 Speaker 4: Yeah, do we need one? 696 00:45:27,602 --> 00:45:30,842 Speaker 1: Can we expense one? Be on the look out. 697 00:45:31,082 --> 00:45:33,202 Speaker 3: The problem is even if you expense one, I just 698 00:45:33,202 --> 00:45:34,122 Speaker 3: can't find one. 699 00:45:34,562 --> 00:45:35,162 Speaker 8: Yeah. 700 00:45:35,322 --> 00:45:36,202 Speaker 3: Now they're all gone. 701 00:45:37,082 --> 00:45:39,202 Speaker 4: If you are sitting on a copy and would like 702 00:45:39,242 --> 00:45:41,842 Speaker 4: to sell it very Special Episodes at gmail dot com, 703 00:45:41,922 --> 00:45:42,482 Speaker 4: hit us up. 704 00:45:43,042 --> 00:45:45,202 Speaker 3: I'll make you an offer. I will slide you a 705 00:45:45,242 --> 00:45:47,522 Speaker 3: piece of paper with a dollar amount written on it. 706 00:45:47,802 --> 00:45:49,282 Speaker 1: I know. We talked a lot about the We were 707 00:45:49,322 --> 00:45:51,882 Speaker 1: talking about the book and this episode's focused on the book. 708 00:45:51,922 --> 00:45:53,402 Speaker 1: But I got to ask you, guys. Did you guys 709 00:45:53,442 --> 00:45:56,842 Speaker 1: see the twenty thirteen Leonardo DiCaprio movie version of this? 710 00:45:57,282 --> 00:45:57,482 Speaker 3: Yeah? 711 00:45:57,522 --> 00:45:58,122 Speaker 7: I liked it. 712 00:45:58,442 --> 00:46:01,362 Speaker 1: Have you seen the nineteen seventies version with Mia Pharaoh 713 00:46:01,482 --> 00:46:02,602 Speaker 1: and Robert Redford? 714 00:46:02,842 --> 00:46:03,042 Speaker 7: Yeah? 715 00:46:03,042 --> 00:46:03,802 Speaker 3: I like that one too. 716 00:46:04,962 --> 00:46:07,442 Speaker 1: I'm glad. Which one do you prefer? Did you have 717 00:46:07,482 --> 00:46:08,042 Speaker 1: a preference? 718 00:46:08,642 --> 00:46:10,082 Speaker 3: You know what I'm going to say, I think the 719 00:46:10,362 --> 00:46:12,602 Speaker 3: Robert maybe because I saw it when I was younger, 720 00:46:12,642 --> 00:46:14,642 Speaker 3: But I kind of think the Robert Rudsborre one might 721 00:46:14,642 --> 00:46:16,602 Speaker 3: be a little boring. And I'm going to say I 722 00:46:16,682 --> 00:46:19,522 Speaker 3: like the Leonardo one because even though I know people 723 00:46:19,562 --> 00:46:22,722 Speaker 3: had their critiques of it, I'm like, it's fun, it moves. 724 00:46:22,402 --> 00:46:23,042 Speaker 1: It's poppy. 725 00:46:23,402 --> 00:46:26,282 Speaker 4: I just watched it again on a plane last week 726 00:46:26,562 --> 00:46:28,962 Speaker 4: and felt like a real influencer because I put it on. 727 00:46:29,162 --> 00:46:31,042 Speaker 4: The person sitting next to me I could tell was 728 00:46:31,042 --> 00:46:34,242 Speaker 4: looking at me, seeing and then all of a sudden, 729 00:46:34,322 --> 00:46:36,922 Speaker 4: was just five minutes behind me watching the same movie. 730 00:46:37,602 --> 00:46:39,202 Speaker 4: Whoa communal experience? 731 00:46:39,362 --> 00:46:43,402 Speaker 1: My only influencing, true influencing. That's incredible influencing in the wild. 732 00:46:43,642 --> 00:46:45,802 Speaker 1: That has to be one of the most satisfying things Honestly, 733 00:46:45,802 --> 00:46:47,482 Speaker 1: if you're sitting there watching a movie on a plane 734 00:46:47,482 --> 00:46:48,602 Speaker 1: and the person next to you goes, you know what, 735 00:46:48,642 --> 00:46:50,362 Speaker 1: I want to watch that too. I don't know why. 736 00:46:50,362 --> 00:46:53,122 Speaker 1: It's like a book recommendation someone. You see them actually 737 00:46:53,162 --> 00:46:54,962 Speaker 1: reading the book, you're like, hell yeah. 738 00:46:55,322 --> 00:46:58,122 Speaker 3: I mean that's basically how The Great Gatsby became popular. 739 00:46:58,162 --> 00:47:00,922 Speaker 3: All these soldiers sitting around after World War Two being 740 00:47:00,962 --> 00:47:02,322 Speaker 3: like that book looks good. 741 00:47:02,522 --> 00:47:05,002 Speaker 4: Yeah, you gotta check this one, Sarah. There's not a 742 00:47:05,122 --> 00:47:07,082 Speaker 4: ton of characters in this one. But if you were 743 00:47:07,122 --> 00:47:09,282 Speaker 4: gonna cast Fitzgerald, who's your actor? 744 00:47:09,922 --> 00:47:12,202 Speaker 1: Okay? I thought about this one a bunch because it's 745 00:47:12,242 --> 00:47:14,602 Speaker 1: like there's a good range. I picked him right towards 746 00:47:14,642 --> 00:47:15,802 Speaker 1: the end of his life, so I thought, then we 747 00:47:16,282 --> 00:47:18,762 Speaker 1: get some actor who play I'm younger. So I picked 748 00:47:19,042 --> 00:47:21,842 Speaker 1: for f Scott Fitzgerald. This is a wild call, but 749 00:47:21,922 --> 00:47:25,802 Speaker 1: he has the broken heartedness for this role. Will Arnett 750 00:47:27,522 --> 00:47:29,402 Speaker 1: don't like that. If you don't like that one, I've 751 00:47:29,402 --> 00:47:31,722 Speaker 1: got a second will for you, Will Forte. He's a 752 00:47:31,722 --> 00:47:34,682 Speaker 1: little safer choice, but both of them have that broken heartedness. 753 00:47:34,762 --> 00:47:37,322 Speaker 1: They can get to the essence of f Scott Fitzgerald. 754 00:47:37,362 --> 00:47:39,002 Speaker 1: I thought, what do you think. 755 00:47:38,962 --> 00:47:41,722 Speaker 3: My mind just might be distorted by the movie Midnight 756 00:47:41,762 --> 00:47:44,522 Speaker 3: in Paris. But there's a great performance in that movie 757 00:47:44,522 --> 00:47:47,762 Speaker 3: by Tom Hindleston as Scott. I call him Scott totally 758 00:47:48,242 --> 00:47:50,562 Speaker 3: as you could, So I just I think Tom Hidleston 759 00:47:50,882 --> 00:47:52,882 Speaker 3: does a great job. And now that Tom Hidleston is 760 00:47:52,882 --> 00:47:55,162 Speaker 3: a little older, I'm like, great, he should just run 761 00:47:55,162 --> 00:47:58,522 Speaker 3: it back and play an older, broken down Scott Fitzgerald. 762 00:47:58,562 --> 00:48:02,522 Speaker 3: I also saw Tom Hidleston in a pinter play in London, 763 00:48:02,602 --> 00:48:04,402 Speaker 3: which is a brag that I'm saying. I got to 764 00:48:04,402 --> 00:48:07,282 Speaker 3: see him in portrayal in London, but he was great, So. 765 00:48:07,402 --> 00:48:10,242 Speaker 1: That's my vote. I'm duly impressed, like really doly impressed. 766 00:48:10,282 --> 00:48:13,802 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I'm very sophisticated. I'm a very sophisticated person. 767 00:48:14,122 --> 00:48:17,122 Speaker 3: I attempt to collect a rare books and I see 768 00:48:17,162 --> 00:48:18,122 Speaker 3: plays occasionally. 769 00:48:18,282 --> 00:48:20,922 Speaker 1: The effort that counts outside of America no less, did 770 00:48:20,962 --> 00:48:22,642 Speaker 1: you guys have very special characters for this one? 771 00:48:22,722 --> 00:48:25,082 Speaker 3: You know what? I think my very special character is 772 00:48:25,162 --> 00:48:29,162 Speaker 3: the person who was a fan of f Scott Fitzgerald, 773 00:48:30,082 --> 00:48:32,242 Speaker 3: who was the one that they can't like prove that 774 00:48:32,322 --> 00:48:34,842 Speaker 3: it was them who decided that this should be the addition. 775 00:48:35,202 --> 00:48:36,882 Speaker 3: But the one who was like a fan, who was 776 00:48:37,002 --> 00:48:39,362 Speaker 3: part of the decision making process and what these books 777 00:48:39,362 --> 00:48:42,042 Speaker 3: would be, who decided that The Great Gatsby should be 778 00:48:42,122 --> 00:48:43,802 Speaker 3: printed as an arm Services edition. 779 00:48:44,042 --> 00:48:46,162 Speaker 4: It's just so crazy that that's how life works. That 780 00:48:46,682 --> 00:48:50,562 Speaker 4: were probably one person. That's why we all read this 781 00:48:50,642 --> 00:48:52,642 Speaker 4: in tenth grade or whatever. 782 00:48:52,802 --> 00:48:53,882 Speaker 1: It's back on Broadway. 783 00:48:54,682 --> 00:48:58,842 Speaker 4: A couple very special character nominees for me, Molly Manning, 784 00:48:58,882 --> 00:49:02,402 Speaker 4: who wrote the book about went to war, Just thank 785 00:49:02,442 --> 00:49:04,802 Speaker 4: you very much for talking to us and giving us 786 00:49:04,842 --> 00:49:08,522 Speaker 4: all the great background and little pull back the curtain here. 787 00:49:08,842 --> 00:49:11,962 Speaker 4: Most of these episodes are not timely in any way. 788 00:49:12,002 --> 00:49:14,842 Speaker 4: We could release them in you know, next week or 789 00:49:14,922 --> 00:49:17,242 Speaker 4: in two months, and they're going to be just as enjoyable. 790 00:49:17,282 --> 00:49:20,162 Speaker 4: This one, because we're trying to hit this anniversary. Came 791 00:49:20,202 --> 00:49:24,082 Speaker 4: together very quickly, So shout out to Joe Pompeo and 792 00:49:24,122 --> 00:49:27,202 Speaker 4: Mary Doo and Josh and John and everyone who jumped 793 00:49:27,202 --> 00:49:28,682 Speaker 4: in to turn this around very quickly. 794 00:49:28,962 --> 00:49:32,362 Speaker 1: Thank you to all you very special people. Nice work, y'all. 795 00:49:35,722 --> 00:49:38,642 Speaker 4: Very special episodes is made by some very special people. 796 00:49:39,282 --> 00:49:43,682 Speaker 4: Today's episode was written by Joe Pompeo. Joe previously worked 797 00:49:43,682 --> 00:49:47,162 Speaker 4: on our Agatha Christy episode The Case of the Missing Novelist. 798 00:49:47,722 --> 00:49:49,522 Speaker 4: It was one of our top performers last year. 799 00:49:49,602 --> 00:49:50,402 Speaker 7: Go check it out. 800 00:49:51,202 --> 00:49:52,682 Speaker 4: He'll be back in two weeks with a good old 801 00:49:52,722 --> 00:49:57,402 Speaker 4: fashioned spy story. This podcast is hosted by Danis Schwartz, 802 00:49:57,762 --> 00:50:02,162 Speaker 4: Zaron Burnett, and Jason English. Our producer is Josh Fisher. 803 00:50:03,202 --> 00:50:08,882 Speaker 4: Editing and sound design by Jonathan Washington, editing by Mary Doo, 804 00:50:09,322 --> 00:50:14,122 Speaker 4: mixing and mastering by Josh Fisher. Original music by Alise McCoy. 805 00:50:15,162 --> 00:50:18,802 Speaker 4: Research and fact checking by Joe Pompeo and Austin Thompson. 806 00:50:19,562 --> 00:50:24,682 Speaker 4: Show logo by Lucy Quintania. Our executive producer is Jason English. 807 00:50:25,002 --> 00:50:26,922 Speaker 4: If you'd like to email the show, you can reach 808 00:50:27,002 --> 00:50:32,002 Speaker 4: us at Very Special Episodes at gmail dot com. Very 809 00:50:32,002 --> 00:50:35,362 Speaker 4: Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts.