This weekon Studio 360 we take a look at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classicThe Great Gatsby. We might not like to admit it, but Gatsby’s popularity–and its iconic status–has more than a little to do with length. It’s short (a brilliantly compact 182 pages), easily finished in a weekend. Not so the late novelist David […]
Gatsby in the Burbs
It may be the first great novel set in a suburb. Andrew Lauren, son of designer Ralph, explains why he wrote a movie about a hip-hop Gatsby in real-life East Hampton. Scholar Ruth Prigozy drives us out to Great Neck, the model for Fitzgerald’s ?West Egg,? to see the view of the bay. We get lost on the way.
The Swankiest Party Ever
“Gatsby” has become shorthand for the decadent 1920s: glamorous parties, linen suits, the yellow car, the casual flouting of Prohibition. The high life is observed by Nick Carraway, a shy young man from the Midwest. Novelist Jonathan Franzen explains how his own upbringing was a lot like Nick’s.