A decorative banner featuring a portrait of Jack Edwards and a colourful collage of historical pop culture symbols like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby and a TV set.

Article Header – Pop Culture

Features

The Penguin books that ignited a pop culture phenomenon

A photo of the book Pride & Prejudice on a wooden table, surrounded by purple books and flowers

Article-Card-Classic-Romance-Books-Young-Readers.jpg

Children's reading lists

The best classic love stories for young readers

A bright, colourful image showing the Henry James quote, “Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

Summer20Quotes-Main201800x1200.jpg

The best literary quotes about summer

An illustration of a person reading a Penguin Classic

Penguin20-20XMAS20How20to20start20your20classic20collection20-20main-image-1800×1200.jpg

How to start building your classics collection

A flatlay of covers of Great American Novels

american-novels-main-image-1800x120020copy.jpg

Reading lists

The Greatest American Novels you should read

The Great Gatsby

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age – a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 and was a tremendous critical and commercial success. Fitzgerald followed with The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night . He was working on The Last Tycoon when he died, in Hollywood, in 1940.

Love, money, revenge and betrayal - this is the Jazz Age novel that became the great American classic. 
 
The world and his mistress are at Jay Gatsby’s party. But Gatsby stands apart from the crowd, isolated by a secret longing. In between sips of champagne his guests speculate about their mysterious host. Some say he’s a bootlegger. Others swear he was a German spy during the war. They lean in and whisper ‘he killed a man once’. Just where is Gatsby from and what is the obsession that drives him? 
 
‘Shimmers with a magic that readers have long recognised…Fitzgerald was so far ahead of his time that we are only just catching up with him’ Sarah Churchwell, Guardian 
 
‘Not just one of the greatest works of American literature, but a timeless evocation of the allure, corruption and carelessness of wealth’ The Times

The Rich Boy

90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books 
 
Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me . . . 
 
In this glittering new selection of Fitzgerald’s short stories, we meet Anson Hunter, ‘The Rich Boy’, whose opulent, haunting world paints a vivid portrait of the American elite. ‘Absolution’ offers a poignant glimpse into the soul of a young boy grappling with sin, whilst ‘May Day’ captures the whirling hysteria at the dawn of the Jazz Age.

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me . . . 
 
In this glittering new selection of Fitzgerald’s short stories, we meet Anson Hunter, ‘The Rich Boy’, whose opulent, haunting world paints a vivid portrait of the American elite. ‘Absolution’ offers a poignant glimpse into the soul of a young boy grappling with sin, whilst ‘May Day’ captures the whirling hysteria at the dawn of the Jazz Age.

<a href="https://shop.penguin.co.uk/collections/book-bundles-modern-classics/?&amp;utm_source=Penguin.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=Linked_text&amp;utm_campaign=Penguin_Modern_Classics_Series_26_06">Choose 3 timeless classics for only £21 over on the Penguin Shop</a>

'A classic, perhaps the supreme American novel' Sunday Times, Books of the Century 
 
'It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life' 
 
Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

Tender is the Night

F. Scott Fitzgerald's tale of tragic romance and material obsession set on the French Riviera, with a new Introduction by Michael Nowlin 
 
Between the First World War and the Wall Street Crash the French Riviera was the stylish place for wealthy Americans to visit. Among the most fashionable are psychoanalyst Dick Diver and his wife Nicole, who hold court at their villa. Into their circle comes Rosemary Hoyt, a film star, who is instantly attracted to them, but understands little of the dark secrets and hidden corruption that hold them together. As Dick draws closer to Rosemary, he fractures the delicate structure of his marriage and sets both Nicole and himself onto a dangerous path where only the strongest can survive. In this exquisite, lyrical novel, Fitzgerald has poured much of the essence of his own life; he has also depicted the age of materialism, shattered idealism and broken dreams. 
 
'One of the most wonderful writers of the twentieth century' 
Financial Times

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) left Princeton University in 1917 to join the army. He is said to have epitomised the Jazz Age, which he himself defined as 'a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. In 1920 he entered a traumatic marriage which was to influence much of his writing.

Between the First World War and the Wall Street Crash the French Riviera was the stylish place for wealthy Americans to visit. Among the most fashionable are the Divers, Dick and Nicole, who hold court at their villa. Into their circle comes Rosemary Hoyt, a film star, who is instantly attracted to them, but understands little of the dark secrets and hidden corruption that hold them together. As Dick draws closer to Rosemary, he fractures the delicate structure of his marriage and sets both Nicole and himself on to a dangerous path where only the strongest can survive. In this exquisite, lyrical novel, Fitzgerald has poured much of the essence of his own life; he has also depicted the age of materialism, shattered idealism and broken dreams.

Five Full-Cast Dramatisations Including Macbeth, Emma & The Great Gatsby

Anti-Heroes: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

BBC radio dramatisations of classic novels centred around engaging anti-heroes who dominate high societyAmbitious. Ruthless. Unprincipled. With their blurred morals and relatable imperfections, it’s no wonder we find anti-heroes so appealing and fascinating. Featuring a mixture of male and female anti-heroes across England, Scotland, France and New York, these fantastic adaptations of five of the best-known and best-loved classics of literature follow some of these flawed, nuanced characters as they steal the spotlight and make their presence known.Macbeth – Scottish general Macbeth’s life is changed when he encounters three witches who predict that he will become the king of Scotland. Encouraged by his forceful wife, he proceeds to fulfil the prophecy, but descends into madness and tyranny... This thrilling production of William Shakespeare's dark tragedy about ambition for power stars Neil Dudgeon and Emma Fielding.The Count of Monte Cristo – Marseilles, 1815. Nineteen-year-old seaman Edmond Dantès is engaged to the beautiful Mercédès and about to be promoted to Captain. But when three acquaintances betray him, he is condemned to 14 years of solitary confinement in the Chateau D'If. Escaping the notorious prison, Dantès plots his enemies’ destruction… Iain Glen stars in Alexandre Dumas’s swashbuckling tale of revenge.Emma – Handsome, clever and rich, Emma Woodhouse is so blessed by life that she declares she will never marry. However, she is determined to find the right match for her new friend Harriet Smith. Eve Best stars in this adaptation of Jane Austen's sparkling comedy of young love and romantic meddling.Vanity Fair – Thackeray's deliciously ironic tale of passion and ambition, set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, follows the fortunes of penniless, social-climbing Becky Sharp and her wealthy, sweet-natured best friend, Amelia Sedley. Starring Stephen Fry as the Narrator, with Emma Fielding as Becky, Katy Cavanagh as Amelia and Toby Jones as Jos.The Great Gatsby – Arriving in Long Island, Nick Carraway is reacquainted with his distant cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and falls in with her wealthy crowd. His neighbour, self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby, is the man who has everything – but one thing will always be out of his reach... A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, this dramatisation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's seminal novel stars Bryan Dick and Andrew Scott.Credits MacbethWritten by William ShakespeareDirected by Marc BeebyComposer: Timothy X AtackSound design by Colin GuthrieFirst broadcast BBC Radio 3, 17 May 2015The Count of Monte CristoWritten by Alexandre DumasAdapted by Sebastian BaczkiewiczDirected by Jeremy Mortimer and Sasha YevtushenkoMusic by David Tobin and Jeff MeeganFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 November–16 December 2012EmmaWritten by Jane AustenDramatised by April de AngelisDirected by Jonquil PantingMusic: Martin Souter and Sarah StoweFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 November–3 December 2000Vanity FairWritten by William Makepeace ThackerayDramatised by Stephen WyattProduced by Claire GroveFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 September–8 October 2004The Great GatsbyWritten by F. Scott FitzgeraldDramatised by Robert ForrestDirected by Gaynor MacFarlaneFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6–13 May 2012© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

William Shakespeare (Author) William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616. Jane Austen (Author) Jane Austen was born in Steventon rectory on 16 December 1775. Her family later moved to Bath, then to Southampton and finally to Chawton in Hampshire. She began writing Pride and Prejudice when she was twenty-two years old. It was originally called First Impressions and was initially rejected by the publishers and only published in 1813 after much revision. She published four of her novels in her lifetime, Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Jane Austen died on 18th July 1817. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were both published posthumously in 1818. F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author) Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age – a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 and was a tremendous critical and commercial success. Fitzgerald followed with The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night . He was working on The Last Tycoon when he died, in Hollywood, in 1940.

Babylon Revisited

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. 
 
Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil. 
 
F. Scott Fitzgerald was the most celebrated chronicler of the Jazz Age. At the time of his death, he believed he was an alcoholic failure; but he received posthumous acclaim as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. This collection brings together some of his finest stories, including 'The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button'; 'Winter Dreams', a melancholy thwarted love story that anticipated The Great Gatsby, and 'Babylon Revisited', set the year after the 1929 stock market crash, when the Jazz Age sounded its last. 
 
'His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings' Ernest Hemingway

Studying The Great Gatsby: The Complete Text and Revision Guide

Plug in and prepare for your A-Level English Literature examination with this comprehensive audio study guide to The Great Gatsby. 
 
Includes the entire, unabridged audio narration of The Great Gatsby, as well as in-depth analysis on the text, covering the key areas of: Characters, Themes, Structure and Form, Genre and Historical Context - as well as detailed chapter summaries and key quotations for your exam. 
 
This audio study guide covers the core assessment objectives of the A Level syllabus. This will give students studying these texts a strong foundation from which they can build their understanding, engage with other critical commentary and draw connections to other literary texts. Students will learn how to: 
 
- articulate informed and creative responses to the text through the exploration of themes and key ideas (AO1) 
 
- analyse writers' craft to uncover the ways in which writers convey meaning in the text (AO2) 
 
- appreciate the influence and significance of the contexts which shaped the writing and reception of the text (AO3)

Vintage Minis

Parties

Vintage Minis bring you the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human – from birth to death and everything in between

They look good and read well. That’s win/win in our book

‘I want to give a really bad party. I mean it. I want to give a party where there’s a brawl and seductions and people going home with their feelings hurt and women passed out in the cabinet de toilette. You wait and see.’ 
 
The crackle of gin on ice, the first chords of the band, the low hum of gossip– whether you love or loathe parties, Fitzgerald writes them like no one else. From glittering occasions complete with an orchestra and dancing girls to a fist-fight at the end of a toddler’s birthday, this is a dazzling collection of party pieces from the master of celebration. 
 
Selected from The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night and Flappers and Philosophers 
 
 VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. 
 
 A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

Abridged Edition

Penguin Readers Level 3: The Great Gatsby (ELT Graded Reader)

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. 
 
Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. 
 
The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. 
 
Visit the Penguin Readers website 
Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys. 
 
 
Everybody wants to know Jay Gatsby. He is handsome and very rich. He owns a big house, and he has wonderful parties there. But after the music and dancing, does anybody really know who Jay Gatsby is? This is a story of love, money, and secrets.

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
The Great Gatsby, a Level 3 Reader, is A2 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing first conditional, past continuous and present perfect simple for general experience. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear on most pages. 
 
Everybody wants to know Jay Gatsby. He is handsome and very rich. He owns a big house, and he has wonderful parties there. But after the music and dancing, does anybody really know who Jay Gatsby is? This is a story of love, money, and secrets.

The Great Gatsby and other BBC Radio readings

The F Scott Fitzgerald BBC Radio Collection

The collected BBC Radio 4 readings of novels, novellas and short stories by F Scott Fitzgerald

A collection of radio readings of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction – plus two bonus programmes 
 
Over the years the BBC has broadcast readings of many of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels, novellas and short stories. This collection includes some of his most famous works alongside various lesser-known tales, including three ‘lost stories’ (first published in 2017 and with an introduction written by editor Anne Margaret Daniel). 
 
Contents and track listing: 
 Track 1-10 - The Great Gatsby - read by Sam Robards 
 Track 11 - The Diamond as Big as the Ritz - read by Garrick Hagon 
 Track 12-31 - Tender is the Night - read by Kenneth Haigh 
 Track 32-34 - Babylon Revisited - read by Stuart Milligan 
 Track 35-36 - The Sensible Thing - read by Stuart Milligan 
 Track 37 - Bernice Bobs Her Hair - read by Laurel Lefkow 
 Track 38 - Financing Finnegan - read by John Sharian 
 Track 39 - The Smilers - read by John Sharian 
 Track 40 - An Alcoholic Case - read by John Sharian 
 Track 41 - Three Hours Between Planes - read by John Sharian 
 Track 42 - Pat Hobby’s Secret - read by Ed Bishop 
 Track 43 - Pat Hobby: Teamed with Genius - read by Ed Bishop 
 Track 44 - Pat Hobby and Orson Welles - read by Ed Bishop 
 Track 45 - Pat Hobby: The Homes of the Stars - read by Ed Bishop 
 Track 46-47 - Thank You for the Light - read by Karen Bartke, with an introduction read by Laurel Lefkow 
 Track 48 - The Couple - read by Finn den Hertog 
 Track 49 - Salute to Lucy and Elsie - read by Stuart Milligan 
 
 Also included are The Great Gatsby Letters(Track 50), in which F. Scott Fitzgerald tells his editor about his hopes and fears for his new novel, and The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald(Track 51), featuring Ed Bishop and Sarah Keller as Fitzgerald and Zelda. 
 
Please note: some of the language in this recording reflects the era in which it was first broadcast.

New Penguin Essentials edition of the heartbreaking classic of the roaring twenties, Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 
 
'I don't ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside me there'll always be the person I am tonight.' 
 
American psychoanalyst Dick Diver and his wife Nicole live in a villa on the French Riviera, surrounded by a circle of glamorous friends. When beautiful film star Rosemary Hoyt arrives she is drawn to the couple - Dick contemplates an affair, while Nicole believes she's found a new best friend. But a dark secret lies at the centre of the Divers' marriage. A secret which could destroy Dick and Nicole and those close to them . . .

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota. He studied at Princeton University before joining the army in 1917. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their traumatic relationship and subsequent breakdowns became a major influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and the Damned, Tender is the Night and The Last Tycoon (his last and unfinished work); six volumes of short stories and The Crack-Up, a selection of autobiographical pieces. F. Scott Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940.

'I don't ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside me there'll always be the person I am tonight.' 
 
American psychoanalyst Dick Diver and his wife Nicole live in a villa on the French Riviera, surrounded by a circle of glamorous friends. When beautiful film star Rosemary Hoyt arrives she is drawn to the couple - Dick contemplates an affair, while Nicole believes she's found a new best friend. But a dark secret lies at the centre of the Divers' marriage. A secret which could destroy Dick and Nicole and those close to them . . .

A beautiful new edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby to coincide with the release of Baz Luhrmann's film. 
 
'There was music from my neighbour's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.' 
 
Everybody who is anybody is seen at the glittering parties held in millionaire Jay Gatsby's mansion in West Egg, east of New York. The riotous throng congregates in his sumptuous garden, coolly debating Gatsby's origins and mysterious past. None of the frivolous socialites understands him and among various rumours is the conviction that 'he killed a man'. A detached onlooker, Gatsby is oblivious to the speculation he creates, but always seems to be watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. 
 
As writer Nick Carraway is drawn into this decadent orbit, Gatsby's destructive dreams and passions are revealed, leading to disturbing and tragic consequences. 
 
'Not only a page turner and heartbreaker, it's one of the most quintessentially American novels ever written' Time 
 
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St Paul, Minnesota in 1896. He studied at Princeton University before joining the army in 1917. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their traumatic relationship and subsequent breakdowns became a major influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and the Damned, Tender is the Night and The Last Tycoon (his last and unfinished work); six volumes of short stories and The Crack-Up, a selection of autobiographical pieces. F. Scott Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St Paul, Minnesota in 1896. He studied at Princeton University before joining the army in 1917. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their traumatic relationship and subsequent breakdowns became a major influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and the Damned, Tender is the Night and The Last Tycoon (his last and unfinished work); six volumes of short stories and The Crack-Up, a selection of autobiographical pieces. F. Scott Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940.

'There was music from my neighbour's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.' 
 
Everybody who is anybody is seen at the glittering parties held in millionaire Jay Gatsby's mansion in West Egg, east of New York. The riotous throng congregates in his sumptuous garden, coolly debating Gatsby's origins and mysterious past. None of the frivolous socialites understands him and among various rumours is the conviction that 'he killed a man'. A detached onlooker, Gatsby is oblivious to the speculation he creates, but always seems to be watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. 
 
As writer Nick Carraway is drawn into this decadent orbit, Gatsby's destructive dreams and passions are revealed, leading to disturbing and tragic consequences.

Tales of the Jazz Age

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' sees a baby born in 1860 begin life as an old man and then age backwards. F. Scott Fitzgerald hinted at this kind of inversion when he called his era 'a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. Perhaps nowhere in American fiction has this 'Lost Generation' been more vividly preserved than in Fitzgerald's short fiction. Spanning the early twentieth-century American landscape, this collection captures, with Fitzgerald's signature blend of enchantment and disillusionment, America during the Jazz Age.

The Great Gatsby is a dazzling social satire, F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece and a milestone in twentieth-century literature, now beautifully repackaged as part of the Penguin Essentials range. 
 
'There was music from my neighbour's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.' 
 
Everybody who is anybody is seen at the glittering parties held in millionaire Jay Gatsby's mansion in West Egg, east of New York. The riotous throng congregates in his sumptuous garden, coolly debating Gatsby's origins and mysterious past. None of the frivolous socialites understands him and among various rumours is the conviction that 'he killed a man'. A detached onlooker, Gatsby is oblivious to the speculation he creates, but always seems to be watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. 
 
As the tragic story unfolds, Gatsby's destructive dreams and passions are revealed, leading to disturbing consequences. A brilliant evocation of 1920s high society, The Great Gatsby peels away the layers of this glamorous world to display the coldness and cruelty at its heart. 
 
'Not only a page-turner and a heartbreaker, it's one of the most quintessentially American novels 
ever written' Time 
 
'He (F Scott Fitzgerald) was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a 
"generation"' New York Times 
 
'The most perfectly crafted work of fiction to have come out of America' Professor Tony Tanner 
 
'The American masterwork, the finest work of fiction by any of this country's writers' Washington Post

Not only a page-turner and a heartbreaker, it's one of the most quintessentially American novels ever written

The American masterwork, the finest work of fiction by any of this country's writers

The most perfectly crafted work of fiction to have come out of America

He (F Scott Fitzgerald) was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a "generation"

'There was music from my neighbour's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.' 
 
Everybody who is anybody is seen at the glittering parties held in millionaire Jay Gatsby's mansion in West Egg, east of New York. The riotous throng congregates in his sumptuous garden, coolly debating Gatsby's origins and mysterious past. None of the frivolous socialites understands him and among various rumours is the conviction that 'he killed a man'. A detached onlooker, Gatsby is oblivious to the speculation he creates, but always seems to be watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. 
 
As the tragic story unfolds, Gatsby's destructive dreams and passions are revealed, leading to disturbing consequences. A brilliant evocation of 1920s high society, The Great Gatsby peels away the layers of this glamorous world to display the coldness and cruelty at its heart.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota, and went to Princeton University which he left in 1917 to join the army. Fitzgerald was said to have epitomised the Jazz Age, an age inhabited by a generation he defined as 'grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their destructive relationship and her subsequent mental breakdowns became a major influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and The Love of the Last Tycoon. Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940.

'But it hadn't been given for nothing. It had been given, even the most wildly squandered sum, as an offering to destiny that he might not remember the things most worth remembering, the things that he would now always remember' 
 
F. Scott Fitzgerald's stories defined the 1920s 'Jazz Age' generation, with their glittering dreams and tarnished hopes. In these three tales of a fragile recovery, a cut-glass bowl and a life lost, Fitzgerald portrays, in exquisite prose and with deep human sympathy, the idealism of youth and the ravages of success. 
 
This book includes Babylon Revisited, The Cut-Glass Bowl and The Lost Decade.

The Beautiful and Damned

A captivating and glamorous tale of squandered talent that defined 'The Lost Generation' of 1920s New York

The Jazz Age chronicler's first great novel

No one has written more elegiacally about America than F. Scott Fitzgerald...a sense of lost time and the irretrievability of the past gave much of his work - indeed, his life - an ineradicable undertone of mourning

If Francis Scott Fitzgerald had not existed, it would have been necessary to invent him. Seldom has there been a character who personified, as well as chronicled, an age with such dexterity and verisimilitude

None was more beautiful, none more damned, than Fitzgerald himself

Anthony Patch and Gloria Gibson are the golden children of the Jazz Age. They marry and embark on a life of glittering parties, lavish expenditure and scandalous revelry. When the money dries up their marriage founders. In this wistful novel Fitzgerald portrays the decline of youthful promise with devastating clarity.

A heartbreaking American masterpiece of the 'Roaring Twenties' by the author of The Great Gatsby

For Fitzgerald desolation is a precondition of the lyrical. Hence the most distinctive impression of Tender: a beautiful novel about failure

It is one of those books that you read and feel a shift...the story is told so poetically and eloquently. It is one of those books that you read and think: if I could only remember that sentence - it is so beautiful

No one has written more elegiacally about America... Fitzgerald, like his revered Keats, was a compulsive nostalgic, locating happiness in the search for sensation rather than in its realisation; in the dream of desire, not in its fulfilment

In just a snatch of dialogue or a few lines of description, Fitzgerald can evoke the happy, troubled and perilous balance of a group of friends... He has an acute eye and ear for the nuances of character... an exquisitely crafted piece of fiction

**AS SEEN ON WRITE AROUND THE WORLD WITH RICHARD E GRANT** 
 
It is the French Riviera in the 1920s. Nicole and Dick Diver are a wealthy, elegant, magnetic couple. A coterie of admirers are drawn to them, none more so than the blooming young starlet Rosemary Hoyt. When Rosemary falls for Dick, the Diver's calculated perfection begins to crack. As dark truths emerge, Fitzgerald shows both the disintegration of a marriage and the failure of idealism. Tender is the Night is as sad as it is beautiful.

Flappers and Philosophers: The Collected Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota, and went to Princeton University which he left in 1917 to join the army. Fitzgerald was said to have epitomised the Jazz Age, an age inhabited by a generation he defined as 'grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their destructive relationship and her subsequent mental breakdowns became a major influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and The Love of the Last Tycoon. Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940.

These sumptuous new hardback editions mark the 70th anniversary of Fitzgerald's death. 
 
Encompassing the very best of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short fiction, this collection spans his career, from the early stories of the glittering Jazz Age, through the lost hopes of the thirties, to the last, twilight decade of his life. It brings together his most famous stories, including 'The Diamond as Big as the Ritz', a fairy tale of unlimited wealth; the sad and hilarious stories of Hollywood hack Pat Hobby; and 'The Lost Decade', written in Fitzgerald's last years.

F. Scott Fizgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota, and went to Princeton University, which he left in 1917 to join the army. He was said to have epitomized the Jazz Age, which he himself defined as 'a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre. Their traumatic marriage and her subsequent breakdowns became the leading influence on his writing. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and The Last Tycoon (his last and unfinished work). Fitzgerald died suddenly in 1940.

These sumptuous new hardback editions mark the 70th anniversary of Fitzgerald's death. 
 
Anthony and Gloria are the essence of Jazz Age glamour. A brilliant and magnetic couple, they fling themselves at life with an energy that is thrilling. New York is a playground where they dance and drink for days on end. Their marriage is a passionate theatrical performance; they are young, rich, alive and lovely and they intend to inherit the earth. 
 
But as money becomes tight, their marriage becomes impossible. And with their inheritance still distant, Anthony and Gloria must grow up and face reality; they may be beautiful but they are also damned.

The Last Tycoon

These sumptuous new hardback editions mark the 70th anniversary of Fitzgerald's death. 
 
Their eyes 'met and tangled. For an instant they made love as no one ever dares to do after. Their glance was slower than an embrace, more urgent than a call'. 
 
A novel of the glittering decadence of Hollywood in its heyday, this was Fitzgerald's last work and he died without completing it. The novel's tragic tycoon hero is Stahr. Caught in the crossfire of his own effortless cynicism and his silent, secret vulnerability, Stahr inhabits a world dominated by business, alcohol and promiscuity. If there is a moral or social necessity to film-making in this West Coast never-never land, Stahr does not always believe in it. If there is love he does not always see it. The sharpness of Fitzgerald's prose, the steely simplicity of his style, give a cutting edge to this study of Hollywood in the thirties, from which Fitzgerald draws a painfully bitter-sweet love affair and bids his own poignant farewell to the Great American Dream.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Fitzgerald's glittering Jazz Age tale of illusion, delusion and the American dream, complete with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. 
 
JOIN THE OBSESSION 
'These might be the most beautiful books I've ever seen? Get them in an art gallery' 
'The marbled paper <3 I could cry' 
'Love love love this collection ' 
'I must have all of them <3 <3' 
'Our beloved classics with sprayed edges too! They are absolutely STUNNING!' 
 
The world and his mistress are at Jay Gatsby’s party. But Gatsby stands apart from the crowd, isolated by a secret longing. In between sips of champagne his guests speculate about their mysterious host. Some say he’s a bootlegger. Others swear he was a German spy during the war. They lean in and whisper ‘he killed a man once’. Just where is Gatsby from and what is the obsession that drives him? 
 
This hardback is part of VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Brief Encounters

Everyman’s Library Contemporary Classics

Little Clothbound Classics

Penguin Archive

Penguin Essentials

Penguin F Scott Fitzgerald Hardback Collection

Penguin Great Loves

Penguin Modern Classics

Penguin Readers

The Complete Text and Revision Guide Series

<a href="https://shop.penguin.co.uk/collections/book-bundles-penguin-english-library/?&amp;utm_source=Penguin.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=Linked_text&amp;utm_campaign=Penguin_English_Library_Series_26_06">Choose 5 classics for £25 over on the Penguin Shop</a>

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Books by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Series by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Brief Encounters52 Books

Penguin F Scott Fitzgerald Hardback Collection7 Books

Vintage Deco9 Books

Articles featuring F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Penguin books that ignited a pop culture phenomenon

The best classic love stories for young readers

The best literary quotes about summer

How to start building your classics collection

The Greatest American Novels you should read

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter