An F. Scott Fitzgerald Reading List

October 10, 2024

Literature

Nesha Ruther

Writer at Bond & Grace

While The Great Gatsby is the most famous and arguably greatest novel F. Scott Fitgerald ever wrote, it wasn’t the only thing he ever wrote! From his breakout novel This Side of Paradise to the sophomoric and oddly prophetic Beautiful and Damned, to his final heartbreaking work Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald is worth a read past simply Gatsby. But in case you’ve already been there and done that, here are ten books by Fitzgerald’s idols, peers, wife, frenemy, and literary descendants to give you a 360 degree perspective on this incredible writer.

Ulysses by James Joyce

Fitzgerald loved James Joyce so much that when he met him in Paris, he reportedly kissed his hand and declared, “How does it feel to be a great genius, Sir? I am so excited at seeing you, Sir, that I could weep.” Later that evening, Fitzgerald was so overcome with emotion he threatened to throw himself out the window. Scott had good reason to be grateful, it was through careful re-readings of Ulysses, that he was able to construct the intricate structure of Gatsby.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Another novel that Fitzgerald referred to when writing The Great Gatsby was Joseph Conrad’s classic Heart of Darkness. Fitzgerald had always been better at writing beautiful words than actually pacing and plotting a novel, and Conrad’s precise, intentional structure was his lighthouse. Fitzgerald even once said in a letter that Conrad’s novel Nostromo was the book he most wished that he had written himself.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Another writer Fitzgerald hugely admired (although thankfully never threatened suicide over) was Edith Wharton. Wharton and Fitzgerald’s novels share a keen eye for social observation and a critique of the rich and aimless. Wharton’s Age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize and chronicles the social scandal caused by a young man who struggles to choose between duty and passion.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

This is a tough one, as Fitzgerald and Hemingway had a deeply complicated relationship. Fitzgerald adored Hemingway and thought him to be the superior writer between the two of them. Hemingway, in turn, bullied Fitzgerald and paints a humiliating and emasculating portrait of him in A Moveable Feast, which chronicles their shared time together in Paris. While Scott may not have wanted us to read this book, it is no doubt a poignant portrait of the Lost Generation literary scene that had a huge impact on both Scott and Ernest.

Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos

More friend and less enemy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s was the novelist John Dos Passos. The pair spent time together in the French Riviera and were both longtime friends of Gerald and Sara Murphy (who would directly inspire Dick and Nicole Diver in Tender is the Night). Dos Passos also fiercely defended Fitzgerald after his death. This series of overlapping stories set in New York is worth a read.

Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

If you like the glitz, glamor, and ultimate moral decay of the characters in Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s other novels, you’ll love this novel by 1920’s literary heavyweight Evelyn Waugh. Set in London, Vile Bodies lambasts the generation of bright young things post-WWI. Waugh’s novel was published five years after Gatsby and may very well have taken inspiration from its American counterpart.

Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald

Zelda Fitzgerald’s only novel, Save Me the Waltz is a semi-autobiographical book following Zelda’s childhood in the Deep South and her and Scott’s tumultuous relationship. Despite Zelda’s lifelong battle with schizophrenia, she reveals a keen and unique authorial voice and inside look at one of the most famous literary marriages of all time.

Jazz by Toni Morrison

While Tom, Daisy, Nick, and Gatsby were gallivanting around New York, only a few miles away in Harlem, a Renaissance was in full swing. While this major cultural moment is peripheral in Gatsby, it is fascinating to read about in tandem with the wealth and decadence Fitzgerald explores. Toni Morrison’s exploration of the Harlem Renaissance is as rich, evocative, and lyrically gorgeous as Fitzgerald’s work, and reframes Fitzgerald’s “Jazz Age” portraits with Black culture front and center.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

This modern feminist take on The Great Gatsby reimagines Gatsby’s murder from the perspective of Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle Wilson’s sister. Their pasts and secrets converge in a fresh and vital take on the story we know so well.

The Pursued and the Pursuing by AJ Odasso

Of all the characters in The Great Gatsby, our narrator Nick Carraway is the hardest to pin down. Is he reliable? Is he not? And what about that odd moment where he suddenly appears in a bedroom with a man from Tom and Myrtle’s apartment? In AJ Odasso’s riveting novel, Gatsby gets another chance at love, not with Daisy, but with the man who loved him all along–Nick.

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We hope you enjoy this reading list almost as much as F. Scott Fitzgerald no doubt would have! This list reminds us that despite the appeal of wealth, power, and parties, we’re probably better off staying home with a good book.