F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24, 1896, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, stands as a literary figure par excellence of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. Best known for his masterpiece, 'The Great Gatsby' (1925), Fitzgerald captured the spirit of the 1920s with consummate flair, probing beneath the era's glittering surface to reveal the emptiness and disillusionment that lay beneath. Following his Princeton University education, his literary talents burgeoned, culminating in a career that produced several classic American novels. Prior to 'The Great Gatsby', he penned 'The Beautiful and Damned' (1922), evoking the psychological depth and decline of his protagonists with eloquent precision. Fitzgerald's narrative style is notable for its rich imagery, lyrical prose, and an unerring sense of the rhythms of American speech. Despite the roaring success of his novels during the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald's later years were marred by financial difficulties and health problems, and he died on December 21, 1940, believing his work forgotten. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald's novels, which include themes of youth, despair, and the corrupting nature of wealth, have endured, influencing countless writers and securing his legacy as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
