Paradise Lost

A Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald

By: David S. Brown

Narrated by: David Colacci

Pigeonholed in popular memory as a Jazz Age epicurean, a playboy, and an emblem of the Lost Generation, F. Scott Fitzgerald was at heart a moralist struck by the nation's shifting mood and manners after World War I. In Paradise Lost, David Brown contends that Fitzgerald's deepest allegiances were to a fading antebellum world he associated with his father's Chesapeake Bay roots. Yet as a midwesterner, an Irish Catholic, and a perpetually in-debt author, he felt like an outsider in the haute bourgeoisie haunts of Lake Forest, Princeton, and Hollywood - places that left an indelible mark on his worldview.

In this comprehensive biography, Brown reexamines Fitzgerald's childhood, first loves, and difficult marriage to Zelda Sayre. He looks at Fitzgerald's friendship with Hemingway, the golden years that culminated with Gatsby, and his increasing alcohol abuse and declining fortunes which coincided with Zelda's institutionalization and the nation's economic collapse. In doing so, he reveals Fitzgerald as a writer with an encompassing historical imagination not suggested by his reputation as "the chronicler of the Jazz Age." Fitzgerald wrote powerfully about change in America, Brown shows, because he saw it as the dominant theme in his own family history and life.

©2017 The President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Carefully researched and a pleasure to read, Brown's persuasive, original account will entice Fitzgerald fans and cultural historians alike." ( Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

Simply Spectacular

Sparkling language and a lively and engaging performance make this a must-listen for Fitzgerald readers as well as anyone who wishes to understand the underpinnings of today’s America.

The newest definitive Fitzgerald biography

David Brown has truly written the newest definitive biography on F Scott Fitzgerald. Brown's writing is both insightful and lyrical, somewhat commensurate with F Scott Fitzgerald's writing style, interestingly. The historical and cultural contexts of Fitzgerald's life and writing are presented very adeptly. Moreover, the psychological, philosophical, and romantic aspects of Fitzgerald's life, writing and thinking are all presented with great understanding and eloquence. It seems to me that this is the biography that F Scott Fitzgerald himself would have liked the most.

Scott Fitzgerald. Definitive biography of him, his life and his work.

Great reader. Truly engaging book covering not only his life and marriage but the juxtaposition of his life at the time of writing each of his books.

Paradise Lost was fascinating

Engaging reading about a great talent that became lost before he really began. After reading this biography, I understand Jay Gatsby even more and pity him even more.

Better than Hemingway....

F Scott Fitzgerald is almost forgotten, buried in the wake of Hemingway mania. This book reminds us he was a great, brilliant writer who created beautiful literature while struggling against fame, mortality and insecurity in his ability. His talent was natural, unpretentious and the envy of writers then and now..