One Book Community Read: The Great Gatsby: Author & Book

The National Endowment of the Arts, sponsor of the Big Read, provides an overview and audio guide of Gatsby.

Developed by the NEA, this reader's guide provides a brief biography of Fitzgerald as well as historical and literary context of the novel.

From his full name to highlighting his role as a screenwriter at MGM, PBS American Masters compiles this quick trivia list.

Short biography from People You Should Know.

Longer, detailed biography from The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story.

The author highlights Fitzgerald's role in popularizing the term "Jazz Age" and how the novel captures the era's spirit through its depiction of jazz music and the lavish lifestyles of its characters. The article also addresses the complex relationship between jazz and race, noting that while Fitzgerald embraced jazz, his work sometimes relied on racial stereotypes.

Wesley Morris' article from The Paris Review explores why F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” continues to captivate readers nearly a century after its publication.