The most famous tragedy

Fitzgerald began outlining his third novel in June 1922. He longed to produce an exquisite work that was beautiful and intricately patterned, but the troubled production of his stage play The Vegetable repeatedly interrupted his progress. The play flopped, and Fitzgerald wrote magazine stories that winter to pay debts incurred by its production. He viewed these stories as all worthless, although included among them was “Winter Dreams”, which Fitzgerald described as his first attempt at the Gatsby idea. “The whole idea of Gatsby”, he later explained to a friend, “is the unfairness of a poor young man not being able to marry a girl with money. This theme comes up again and again because I lived it”.

• Fitzgerald began outlining his third novel in June 1922. He longed to produce an exquisite work that was beautiful and intricately patterned, but the troubled production of his stage play The Vegetable repeatedly interrupted his progress. The play flopped, and Fitzgerald wrote magazine stories that winter to pay debts incurred by its production. He viewed these stories as all worthless, although included among them was “Winter Dreams”, which Fitzgerald described as his first attempt at the Gatsby idea. “The whole idea of Gatsby”, he later explained to a friend, “is the unfairness of a poor young man not being able to marry a girl with money. This theme comes up again and again because I lived it”.