John Steinbeck in 1939 Born

Europe and the Lost Generation[edit]

Further information: Lost Generation

In Europe, Fitzgerald wrote and published The Great Gatsby (1925), now viewed by many as his magnum opus.

In spring 1924, Fitzgerald and his family moved to France, where he would begin writing his third novel, which would eventually become The Great Gatsby.^[64][67][68] Fitzgerald had been planning the novel since 1923, when he told his publisher Maxwell Perkins of his plans "to write something new – something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned."^[69] Initially titled Trimalchio, an allusion to the Latin work Satyricon, the rough manuscript followed the rise of a freedman to wealth and power. During the Fitzgeralds' sojourn in Rome in late 1924, Fitzgerald would rewrite the text several times, replacing the freedman with arriviste Jay Gatsby.^[64][35] Fitzgerald declined an offer of $10,000 for the serial rights, fearing it would delay the book's publication, set for April 10, 1925. Upon its release, fellow writers Willa Cather, T. S. Eliot, and Edith Wharton praised Fitzgerald's latest work, but it was snubbed by most critics and audiences.^[69] The New York World ran a headline declaring "Fitzgerald's Latest A Dud".^[70] For the rest of his life, The Great Gatsby experienced tepid sales. For example, in 1929 Fitzgerald only received royalties of $5.10 from the American edition and just $0.34 from the English edition.^[71] His final royalty check was for only $13.13, all of which was from Fitzgerald buying his own books.^[72] It would take many decades for the novel to gain its present acclaim and popularity.^[69]

While Fitzgerald had been writing The Great Gatsby, Zelda had become infatuated with a young French aviator, Edouard S. Jozan.^[73] She spent afternoons swimming at the beach and evenings dancing at the casinos with Jozan. After six weeks, Zelda asked for a divorce. Fitzgerald at first demanded to confront Jozan, but instead dealt with Zelda's request by locking her in their house, until she abandoned her request for divorce. Jozan was not aware that she had asked for a divorce. He left the Riviera later that year, and the Fitzgeralds never saw him again. Later in life he told Zelda's biographer Milford that any infidelity was imaginary: "They both had a need of drama, they made it up and perhaps they were the victims of their own unsettled and a little unhealthy imagination."^[74]

In France, Fitzgerald became close friends with writer Ernest Hemingway.

After spending winter in Italy, the Fitzgeralds returned to France, where they would alternate between Paris and the French Riviera until 1926. Fitzgerald began writing his fourth novel, provisionally titled The Boy Who Killed His Mother, Our Type, and then The World’s Fair. During this period, he became friends with many members of the American expatriate community in Paris, later known as the Lost Generation. Most notable among them was a relatively unknown Ernest Hemingway, whom Fitzgerald greatly admired.^[35] Fitzgerald's friendship with Hemingway was quite effusive, as many of Fitzgerald's relationships would prove to be. Hemingway did not get on well with Zelda, however, and in addition to describing her as "insane" in his memoir A Moveable Feast,^[75] Hemingway claimed that Zelda "encouraged her husband to drink so as to distract Fitzgerald from his work on his novel",^[76] so he could work on the short stories he sold to magazines to help support their lifestyle. Like most professional authors at the time, Fitzgerald supplemented his income by writing short stories for such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire, and sold his stories and novels to Hollywood studios. This "whoring", as Fitzgerald and Hemingway called these sales,^[77] was a sore point in the two authors' friendship. Fitzgerald claimed that he would first write his stories in an 'authentic' manner, then rewrite them to put in the "twists that made them into salable magazine stories".^[76] Upon reading The Great Gatsby, Hemingway was so impressed with the book that he vowed to put any differences with Fitzgerald aside and "be of any help [he] could" with a subsequent novel, fearing Fitzgerald's personal problems may hamper his writing career.^[78]

In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway claimed that Zelda taunted Fitzgerald over the size of his penis. After examining it in a public restroom, Hemingway told Fitzgerald "You're perfectly fine," assuring him that it was larger than those of statues at the Louvre.^[79] One of the most serious rifts occurred when Zelda told him that their sex life had declined because he was "a fairy" and was likely having a homosexual affair with Hemingway. There is no evidence that either was homosexual, but Fitzgerald nonetheless decided to have sex with a prostitute to prove his heterosexuality. Zelda found condoms that he had purchased before any encounter occurred, and a bitter fight ensued, resulting in lingering jealousy.^[80] She later threw herself down a flight of marble stairs at a party because Fitzgerald, engrossed in talking to Isadora Duncan, was ignoring her.^[81] In September 1924, Zelda overdosed on sleeping pills. The couple never spoke of the incident and refused to discuss whether it was a suicide attempt.^[82] The episode propelled Fitzgerald to write in his notebook, "That September 1924, I knew something had happened that could never be repaired."^[83] This breakdown of their relationship worsened Fitzgerald's alcoholism.^[84]