Understanding The Great Gatsby: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents

by Dalton Gross

Overview

Today, more than 70 years after its publication, The Great Gatsby seems as fresh and pertinent to American life as it did in the 1920s. The social, cultural, and historical milieu of the 1920s reflected in its pages is not so very different from our own. This interdisciplinary collection of commentary and rich collateral materials will enrich the reader's understanding of those times and their influence on Fitzgerald's novel. The authors have included a wide variety of primary documents that capture the flavor of the era and its notorious and flamboyant players. Included are newspaper stories, first person accounts, and congressional testimony from the scandals of the 1920s. These materials bring to life the World Series scandal, the Teapot Dome scandal, gangsters and nightclub personalities like Texas Guinan who defied Prohibition, and the daring young women of the flapper age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781573566421
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/28/1998
Series:	Greenwood Press Literature in Context Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	579 KB

About the Author

DALTON GROSS is Professor of English at Southwest Texas State University. He has a special interest in the literary and social milieu of the United States in the 1920s. With MaryJean Gross he has contributed twelve biographies to American National Biography (forthcoming), seven to the Encyclopedia of American Literature (forthcoming), and articles on The Great Gatsby in Notes and Queries and The Explicator.

MARYJEAN GROSS is Assistant Professor of English at Southwest Texas State University. She has a special interest in the history of the novel, with emphasis on nineteenth-century British fiction. With Dalton Gross, she has contributed twelve biographies to American National Biography (forthcoming), and seven to the Encyclopedia of American Literature (forthcoming), and articles on The Great Gatsby in Notes and Queries and The Explicator.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Magic of The Great Gatsby
A Literary Analysis: What Makes The Great Gatsby Great?
The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald: Intertwining Life and Work
Why Be Honest? The Scandals of the 1920s
The Woman Question: Changes during the 1920s
Why Not Be Rich? Money in the 1920s
The Great Gatsby Then and Now
Index

Editorial Reviews

Appropriate for high school and undergraduate students of literature, this book examines the lasting success of Fitzgerald's novel, discussing his craftsmanship as well as the personal circumstances which entered into his work. It also provides historical source documents to familiarize today's reader with the milieu of the 1920s. These are organized topically, including examinations of the scandals of the 1920s, and of the decade's attitudes toward wealth and women. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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