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Flappers and Philosophers

About The Book

Flappers and Philosophers contains some of Fitzgerald's best early short stories, including "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and "The Offshore Pirate".

First published in 1920, Flappers and Philosophers marked F. Scott Fitzgerald's entry into the realm of the short story, in which he adroitly proved himself "a master of the mechanism of short story technique" (Boston Transcript). Several of his most beloved tales are represented in this collection of eight, including "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and "Head and Shoulders," with their particularly O. Henry­like twists; the poignant "Benediction" and "The Cut-Glass Bowl"; and "The Offshore Pirate," the octet's opening and most romantic story. It is a collection of masterful short works from an American literary icon that led The New York Times Book Review to note that "[no one] can fail to recognize Mr. Fitzgerald's talent and genius."

This edition includes:
-A concise introduction that gives readers important background information
-A chronology of the author's life and work
-A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context
-An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations
-Detailed explanatory notes
-Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work
-Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction
-A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

About The Author

Photograph © Hulton Archive

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896. He attended Princeton University, joined the United States Army during World War I, and published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. That same year he married Zelda Sayre and for the next decade the couple lived in New York, Paris, and on the Riviera. Fitzgerald’s masterpieces include The Beautiful and DamnedThe Great Gatsby, and Tender Is the Night. He died at the age of forty-four while working on The Last Tycoon. Fitzgerald’s fiction has secured his reputation as one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Scribner (August 12, 2014)
  • Length: 256 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780743247313

Raves and Reviews

The New York Times Book Review On the whole, Flappers and Philosophers represents the triumph of form over matter....There is no telling what good fortune awaits this volume of excellent short stories....The ingenuity which marks his works he may consider a necessity in American fiction of today....Mr. Fitzgerald is working out an idiom, and it is an idiom at once universal, American, and individual.

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