Reading and rereading The Great Gatsby has been one of my life’s chief pleasures, but reading is a largely solitary activity. In contrast, one of the unexpected benefits of writing this book was the opportunity it gave me to meet a vast community of readers, scholars, librarians, researchers, and students—many, many of them lovers of Fitzgerald’s work.
Like F. Scott Fitzgerald, I, too, have been graced with the best of editors and agents. Reagan Arthur has been an enthusiastic proponent of this book from its very beginning, and her wise editorial guidance, terrific sense of humor, and openness to literary detours have encouraged me to take chances and, thus, become a better writer. My agent, Stuart Krichevsky, read three versions (at least) of my book proposal and kept pushing me to crystallize the idea for the kind of book about Gatsby he knew I wanted to write. I’m also thankful to Shana Cohen and Ross Harris of the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency for their help and good cheer.
At Little, Brown, I’ve been supported by an impressive group of talented and dedicated people. Jean Garnett shepherded my book through revisions and helped enormously in the daunting task of securing permissions; Jayne Yaffe Kemp guided the manuscript through production and put it in the hands of an outstanding copyeditor, Tracy Roe, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude. I also want to thank Carrie Neill for her skill in ushering my book out into the world.
So We Read On has greatly benefited from the close scrutiny of two eminent Fitzgerald scholars: Jackson R. Bryer and Morris Dickstein. I am very grateful to them both for taking time away from their own work to correct my errors and to share their deep knowledge of Fitzgerald. Any mistakes stubbornly remaining in this book are my own. Don C. Skemer, curator of manuscripts at Princeton University Library, generously introduced me to the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers, discussed details of the library’s extraordinary Fitzgerald holdings, and answered my many questions, particularly about the legal issues surrounding the display of the manuscript of The Great Gatsby. Also at Princeton, Gabriel Swift, reference librarian in rare books and special collections, was an enormous help in pointing me to crucial Fitzgerald material. At the Hollings Special Collections Library at the University of South Carolina, I was warmly welcomed and greatly enlightened by Jeffrey Makala, librarian for Special Collections and Instruction and Outreach. I am also grateful to Elizabeth Sudduth, director of the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, and former director Patrick Scott for their kindness.
Without the expert guidance of Abby Yochelson, English and American literature reference specialist at the Library of Congress’s main reading room, I would still be trying to find my way through the library’s catalog. This book has benefited from her direction, and I personally have benefited from her friendship. John Cole, director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, patiently shared his considerable knowledge of the history of the Armed Services Editions during and after World War II. The extensive holdings (including the Fitzgeralds’ marriage license) of the New York City Municipal Archives were opened up to me by Eileen Flannelly, deputy commissioner of New York City Department of Records. I’m also indebted to Ken Cobb and Alexandra Hilton for unearthing Fitzgerald material for me in the archives.
Eleanor Lanahan, daughter of Scottie Fitzgerald and granddaughter of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, astonished me with her warmth and readiness to answer e-mail queries about her mother and grandparents. I can’t imagine how many Fitzgerald researchers she’s responded to over the years and I am very grateful for her generosity. Scott Shepherd’s brilliant performance as Nick Carraway in Gatz was an impetus for this book. I am grateful for his talent and for the time he spent answering my questions and reading part of the manuscript. At Harold Ober Associates, Craig Tenney graciously responded to my time-sensitive requests for permission to quote from the Fitzgeralds’ letters and other writings and to use some personal family photographs in this book. I am similarly indebted for permissions help from Yessenia Santos at Simon and Schuster, Keshida Layone of Condé Nast, and AnnaLee Pauls of Princeton University Library. Nan Graham, senior vice president and publisher of Scribner’s, graciously answered my questions about the recent sales history of The Great Gatsby.
My work as book critic for the NPR program Fresh Air has given me not only a reader’s dream job for over two decades but also an extended family (yes, it feels that way) of cherished friends and colleagues. I am especially grateful to Terry Gross, Phyllis Myers, and Danny Miller for their personal and professional support. At NPR, I want to thank Kitty Eisele and Beth Novey, both of whom appear in this book.
David Kipen, who served as the NEA’s director of literature, and Erika Koss, who helped spearhead the Big Read, invited me to go on the road for The Great Gatsby many years ago, and I’m thankful that they did. During two F. Scott Fitzgerald conferences, I was lucky enough to hear pianist Pamela York’s renditions of songs from Gatsby, as well as her lectures on the music of the Jazz Age. Elaine Showalter generously shared her experiences in teaching Fitzgerald at Princeton, and Peter Conn, of the University of Pennsylvania, sent me accounts of his adventures teaching Gatsby in the People’s Republic of China. J. Michael Lennon went out of his way to tell me about Norman Mailer’s high estimation of Gatsby and to send me a hard-to-obtain booklet containing words of praise for Gatsby from other famous writers. (That booklet was published as part of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary Celebration at the Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina.) My two days spent sitting in on literature classes at my old high school, now called St. John’s Prep, were a highlight of my research adventures for this book. Maureen Flood is my ideal of a compassionate and gifted teacher; Jason Booth welcomed me into his classroom and he and his students opened my eyes to another dimension of Gatsby. I also want to thank Michael Matthews, Kathleen Prager, Edward Flood, and Peter Vanderberg for their generosity and insights into Gatsby and Queens history and geography.
At Georgetown, I’m fortunate to have a wonderful group of friends, colleagues, and students. Special thanks go to intrepid graduate-student researcher Katie Collins, who discovered many of the contemporary sightings of Gatsby in popular culture mentioned in this book. I also want to thank Barbara Feinman Todd, Dennis Todd, Denise Brennan, Doug Reed, David Gewanter, Joy Young, Joseph Fruscione, Dinaw Mengestu, Donna Evan-Kesef, Elizabeth Velez, Artemis Kirk, Robert Billingsley, Jill Hollingsworth, Michael Kazin, Judd Spray, Annalisa Adams, and Maria Vrcek. Other good friends patiently listened to me talk about Gatsby and provided all manner of support. I’d like to especially thank Carol Kent, Mary Beth McMahon, Constance Casey, Aviva Kempner, Mary Ellen Maher Harkins, Eileen Floyd Frawley, Karen Pataky, Paige Trevor, Rick Bilski, Margaret Talbot, Dick Lipez, Joe Wheaton, Jessica Blake Hawke, Lori Milstein, David Sahr, Christine Hughes, Virginia Marra, Lois Rosen, Betty Miller, Willie Pataky, and Maddie Yeselson. A special shout-out goes to Kenneth Meyerson for his dogged attempts to identify the source of a cartoon from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby scrapbook.
This book began in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day 2010 when, after listening to me rattle on about the production of Gatz we had both just seen, my husband, Richard Yeselson, said: “This is the book you should write. You should write about The Great Gatsby. You love it.” He is my most ardent champion, my best reader, and my loving ally. This book is dedicated to him and to our remarkable daughter, Molly Yeselson, a computer genius who stepped in and helped organize the notes for this book. Molly recently read The Great Gatsby for the first time in high school and reported that she “liked it.” Words to gladden a mother’s (and a critic’s) heart.