F. SCOTT FITZGERALD AND JAY GATSBY.

Very few people get to call themselves Irish American with the same level of authority as F. Scott Fitzgerald. His name was actually Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald in honor of his distant cousin who wrote a poem called, The Star Spangled Banner  in 1812. It was later put to music and became the National Anthem of the United States. His father Edward Fitzgerald and his mother Mollie (nee McQuillan) were both born in the United States.

The Fitzgerald family was not rich, but they were comfortable and they could afford to send their young son to prestigious Catholic schools and then on to Princeton University. As a college student, Fitzgerald developed his writing skills by working on a number of publications. Unfortunately however, he did not apply the same amount of zeal to his classes and was put on academic probation. He later dropped out of Princeton and joined the Army to fight in World  War I.

It was this point in his life that gave inspiration to his best known work; The Great Gatsby. While stationed in Alabama Fitzgerald was introduced to Zelda Sayre whom he fell hopelessly in love with and sought to marry. Zelda came from a prominent family in Alabama where her father sat on the State Supreme Court. Despite Fitzgerald's proposals, she made it clear that she would not marry him until he could demonstrate that he was financially able to provide for her. This same dynamic exists in The Great Gatsby where the penniless Gatsby tries to amass a fortune to gain the hand of Daisy.
Fitzgerald was able to convince his beloved that he was more than capable after he sold his first novel, This Side of Paradise to Scribner Publishing.

"Scott" and Zelda became the "It"couple that defined the Jazz Era, but their relationship was just as tragic as the finale of The Great Gatsby. In the end Zelda would suffer from a series of nervous breakdowns and would be institutionalized. Fitzgerald would teeter on poverty as he spent his last penny to see that his wife received the best medical care available. Zelda would eventually die tragically in a fire that consumed the sanitarium that she was in eight years after her husband died of a heart attack in 1940.

For an observation on The Great Gatsby, please read my article in The In Print Review at: http://www.authorshipmedia.com/Newsletter.html 

THE IN PRINT REVIEW IS NOW ONLINE!

The first edition of our new literary magazine has hit the cyber street today and whether you are a reader, a writer, or just an aficionado of the written word; The In Print Review is for you.


This edition contains an interview with Pulitzer Prize nominated author Charles McNair, A review of an important new work by David O'Connell titled; The Art and Life of Atlanta Artist Wilbur G. Kurtz, an analysis of The Great Gatsby comparing the book and its film versions, plus much more.


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COVER ME, I'M PUBLISHING A BOOK!

The first point of sale for any book is its cover, and the three most important sales elements of the cover are: the title, the graphics on the front and the information on the back. A book's cover is like the bread of a sandwich, while the pages in between are like its meat. Left unadorned, the ingredients of the sandwich may not look so appealing when lying on a plate without a way to hold them. Bakers do not consult butchers as to the type of bread to use in making a sandwich but both play an integral role in the finished product. So too is the relationship between a writer and a cover designer. The writer delivers the finest product and the designer packages it for consumption.


A good cover design on the front of a book should catch the potential reader's eye like an illuminated sign on a dark highway. It should be both artistic and promotional at the same time. The front cover will serve as an unofficial trademark for the work after publication, so it is important that it is done professionally. Writers may give their suggestions initially but then they must step back and let the designer have the freedom to interpret their vision of the story. Like an editor, a cover artist is a separate set of eyes seeking to enhance the work. The cover of a book can be simplistic or ornate but it should never be dull.


There is an old adage that says: "You can't judge a book by its cover." But there is a place where a book is actually judged by its cover and that place is the back cover. Once a reader has been drawn to the book they will invariably pick it up and turn it over (or read the dust jacket if it is a hardcover). This is the most important moment for both the reader and the writer because this is where a connection is made or lost. Many writers and publishers make the mistake of ignoring the importance of the back cover. Instead of a synopsis they will place either a large photograph of the author; a string of one or two line passages from book reviews; or a vertical line of single word adjectives like "Magnificent", "Thrilling", and "Suspenseful" followed by an inordinate number of meaningless stars. True, it might be interesting to know what the author looks like, or that the story is worthy of all those wonderful accolades, but what is really nice to know is what the book is about.


The only time a book can avoid placing a synopsis on the back cover is when the title says it all. A History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides needs no explanation as to what it is about. Whereas, Nick Flynn's profanely lyrical title; Another Bulls**t Night in Suck City alas, should probably include a synopsis as well as an apology. There is a lot of leeway when choosing a title for a book. It does not have to be catchy, poetic, or even informative but it should make a reader want to learn more about the subject. One thing a title should never be is an inside joke or a pronouncement of the author's intellectual superiority. Case in point: One of the original titles considered by F. Scott Fitzgerald for what would become The Great Gatsby was Trimalchio in West Egg. Though this title may have made sense to the peers of Fitzgerald who studied classical literature and carried Ivy League diplomas, the average reader would have no idea that Trimalchio was a decadent character known for his lavish parties in Petronius Arbiter's Satyricon.  Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed by the time the book went to press.


The cover of a book, its graphics, its title, and its back cover are all important parts of a successful marketing strategy, but the real artistry should always be in what lies between the covers. Good writing can never be diminished by a bad cover and amateurish writing can never be elevated by a great one.


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