Extracts from a Writer's Notebook

Writers’ notebooks are personal repositories where authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald jotted down ideas, observations, character sketches, plot fragments, and vivid descriptions. Such notebooks serve as creative incubators, capturing fleeting thoughts and inspirations for later development into stories, novels, or essays. They allow writers to experiment with language, refine their voice, and store raw material—dialogue snippets, settings, or metaphors—that might spark a masterpiece. 

Years ago I read Charles W. Conn's book of pithy one-liners called The Pointed Pen. He was sharp. Inspired by the memory of this book (I'd read it while visiting Coatepec on the outskirts of Xalapa, Mexico) I decided to comb through my own journal notebooks to see what kind of gems I might find. Unfortunately, there was more pulp than pith, more bones than meat, more rocks than gems. 

While cleaning out some drawers this weekend I came across a couple of sheets of those notes and decided to post them here. 

* * * * *

A mind whose feet teetered under the weight of a thousand rickety tensions.

What do you demean by that? (Peter O)

How'd they get so jaded?

Waisted Minds slogan: A Waist is a terrible thing to mind.

"Red is the soil of Burma, Red also are its cliffs." (from The Harp of Burma)

The great battle for significance is a battle against irrelevance.

"If I'm so successful, why am I so lonely?"

How to get blessed: Be a blessing.

Why are Texans so Austintatious?

Song of the Matrix  (EdNote: This was 10 years before the movie.)

The Four Atomic Sons of Madame Fauvre [title]

Jimmy Johnson's Message to his team after Super Bowl Victory: "This feeling of love that you share right now you will have the rest of your lives."

A man who needs nothing can afford to risk everything. (8-28-88)

Freestyle Frost Flicker --> Name of Product for cleaning ice off windows

"The melancholy of all things done." (Buzz Aldrin, after returning from moon)

"The footprints we left on the moon were not ours but were for all mankind." (Aldrin)

His blood turned to wine and sang through his veins.

Knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who utters mystic nonsense.

"I'm gonna max out my Monkey card." (newspeak example)

The Power Cafe (name for a restaurant)

The Magic of Northern Italy

They were stereotypes, cardboard cutouts, punched out from pre-fabricated liberal lexicons. 

Is this man really capable of conceiving a penetrating question?

Opinionitis

P.I.N. Formula (Dr. Edward de Bono)
P = Positive aspect
I = Interesting aspect
N = Negative aspect

Exploit the possibilities in an idea.

Point of View: A particular way of assigning priorities to the factors involved in a situation.

To be effective we must learn how to tame our value judgments. We cannot listen and hear if we are always making snap judgments. A mature mind becomes more effective when it is able to suspend value judgments.

She lived a life encumbered by long sets of inner rules that bound her more tightly than chains.

Ogilvie said, "The greatest sin in advertising is to be boring."

The second greatest sin: Not agreeing with David Ogilvie

Creativity and courage to take risks...

Content and form...

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

* * * 

Keeping a notebook fosters discipline, sharpens observational skills, and preserves moments that might otherwise fade. The faintest ink outlasts the strongest memory. For Fitzgerald, his notes (e.g., The Crack-Up) reveal his process, blending raw creativity with meticulous craft, essential for any writer’s growth.

Life Is Not A Spectator Sport: A Weekend Reflection

It's Jay Gatsby Month. 100 years ago, April 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was published by Charles Scribner's and Sons, so you may see his story pop up a few times in the next couple weeks.

[Spoiler Alert: All of these Gatsby references assume you already know the story.]

They say that cats have nine lives; we only have one. This singular chance at existence demands that we be more than passive observers. We can choose to sit and watch from the audience, or choose deliberate engagement with the world. The theme “Life is not a spectator sport”--a theme I've reiterated many times over the course of a lifetime--captures this urgency to step beyond the sidelines and shape our own stories through action and courage. 

Whether we're chasing dreams like Jay Gatsby, or standing against injustice as history’s rebels did, the essence of living lies in participation, not detachment. In one sense, this call to action is a plea for purpose, reminding us that life--fleeting and finite--gains meaning only when we dare to act, risk, and truly live.

This idea resonates deeply in literature and life, emphasizing courage, agency, and the pursuit of meaning through action.

In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is an embodiment of this theme. He's refused to remain a bystander in his own story. Born into poverty, he rejects the sidelines, reinventing himself as a wealthy man to win Daisy’s love. His relentless pursuit shows a life lived boldly, even if flawed. By way of contrast, Nick Carraway, the novel’s narrator, is the lingering spectator, observing Gatsby’s world with detachment. His passivity contrasts with Gatsby’s drive, suggesting that true vitality lies in taking risks, not just witnessing others’ dreams.

The story is more nuanced than that though. The picture Fitzgerald paints is more grim. The American Dream isn't all that it's cracked up to be. There's a power hierarchy in life. The lower classes believe in upward mobility. This is America, where anything is possible. What many don't see is that when you rise above your place,  you become a target. You're a clay pigeon thrust skyward and the uber-rich delight in taking potshots at you, shattering your illusions, putting you back in your place.

Even so, we're not advocating that you abandon your dreams. Quite the contrary. This is an appeal to take action, despite a possibility of frustration, futility and failure. The battle is not always to the strong nor the race to the swift, time and chance happen to them all.

In his song "Father and Son" Cat Stevens wrote this terribly sad line: "You may still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not." When we've abandoned our dreams, what is left? 

For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'

--John Greenleaf Whittier

A Child of the Lab

Forty years ago, when I first became serious about a writing career, I envisioned being a writer of short stories like Hemingway (In Our Time), F. Scott Fitzgerald or Jack London. Yes, they all wrote novels but I found that writing stories and articles while working full time was within my grasp and a novel was simply to massive of a project in those circumstances.

For the first four years after our return from a year in Mexico Susie and I painted apartments. There were two things I especially liked about it. First, wherever we went looked nicer after we'd been there than before we arrived. Second, there is a mindlessness about painting white on white so it was an opportunity to let my imagination run free. As a result my mind conceived of countless concepts for stories, some which became outlines and others which were completed. (Years later I assembled many of these into books like this short volume, Unremembered Histories.)  

The story below was conceived sometime during the 1980's I believe. Or rather, the concept for this story was birthed and a few notes jotted down. Over the years since that time I've thought about fleshing it out and turning it into something I could share. 

This past week I decided to do something different. I fed my story concept to ChatGPT to see what an AI would generate. Here's what we came up with as a story beginning. For a much longer story it has real possibilities. What do you think?

A Child of the Lab

In the dry heat of the Negev desert, deep within the secure walls of a state-of-the-art laboratory, Dr. Yitzhak Baram and Dr. Leah Mendel spent their days peering into the mysteries of the human genome. Theirs was no ordinary research—after years of studying ancient texts, theological debates, and genetic data, they began to suspect a tantalizing possibility. Buried within the intricate code of human DNA, they believed they had found a signature, a remnant of a primordial flaw, a genetic marker shared by every living human being. They called it "Eve's Mark."

For months, the pair wrestled with the implications of their discovery. Could this genetic trait be a trace of what religious traditions called Original Sin, a fundamental imperfection passed down through generations since humanity's mythical fall from grace? If so, could they remove it? And if they did, would the result be a human being untainted by the imperfections that had shaped human history?

Leah's voice trembled as she proposed the unthinkable: "We could create a new embryo... without Eve's Mark. A human being, like Adam and Eve, before the fall. Imagine the purity, the potential for good."

Yitzhak's skepticism melted away over nights of whispered conversations, and they resolved to do what no one else had ever dared—build a genome devoid of this flaw. In the dimly lit lab, they synthesized the embryo, painstakingly editing the genetic code until "Eve's Mark" was no longer present. Nine months later, the child was born in secret, far from any official record. They named her Miriam, for she was to them a new beginning.

As the months passed, Miriam grew with a vitality that stunned her caretakers. The scientists documented everything—her rapid development, her serene temperament, her uncanny way of absorbing the world around her. She did not cry like other infants; instead, she observed, her eyes, an almost startling shade of blue, scanning her surroundings with preternatural awareness. They began to believe they had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Yet, beneath their excitement, fear gnawed at them—would others, especially those who might see this as heretical or dangerous, accept what they had done?

Their fears were well-founded.

One summer evening, as the sun dipped behind the hills, a missile struck the lab. It came without warning, an attack from across the border, shattering the building with a force that set the desert ablaze. Yitzhak and Leah died in the chaos, caught beneath the collapsing walls. But as the fire spread, a nurse named Ayla, who had cared for Miriam like a mother, cradled the child to her chest and ran through the smoke and flames, her only thought to save this miraculous little being.

She stumbled through the desert night, following the faintest paths through the dark, driven by some instinct stronger than fear. In her arms, Miriam remained silent, her wide eyes fixed on the stars as if understanding their brightness. The next morning, Ayla reached the outskirts of a small village, exhausted but alive, the child untouched by the horrors that had unfolded behind them.

* * * 

10 Thought-Provoking Quotes by Famous 20th Century Authors, Courtesy ChatGPT and Google Bard

Illustration by the author, with AI assistance.

I asked ChaptGPT for a list of the top 20 authors of the 20th century. I then asked Google Bard for five quotes for each author. I selected one for each from the five offered. The original list from ChatGPT included some disclaimers, noting that making lists like this is highly subjective. "This list represents a diverse range of authors from different regions and literary traditions, each contributing in unique ways to 20th-century literature."

"A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery."
--James Joyce

"Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."
--Franz Kafka

"You cannot find peace by avoiding life."
--Virginia Woolf

"The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."
--F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."
--Albert Camus

"If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself."
--George Orwell

"What matters in life is not what happens to you, but what you remember and how you remember it."
--Gabriel García Márquez

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places."
--Ernest Hemingway

"In a universe of silent stars, human speech is a pitifully tiny and inadequate noise."
--William Faulkner

"If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."
--Toni Morrison

* * * * *

Test Your Wits: A Literary Trivia Contest

How well do you know your literary trivia?

It's intriguing how popular the game Trivial Pursuit became. Here's a bit of trivia you may not have known: the game has sold over 100 million units in 26 countries and 17 languages. What year was it created? I would never have guessed. Answer: 1981. It seems like it has been around forever.

I've always enjoyed creating games. Trivia is indeed fun to play with. During Duluth's Dylan Fest I've usually been the one to create the Dylan Trivia Contest each year. So while cleaning my garage a couple weeks ago I assembled this trivial excursion.

HERE ARE THE RULES
1. Take a piece of paper and number it from 1 to 15. 

2. Here's the challenge. For each name in the list below, name the book this character appeared in and the author who wrote it. (A few are plays, but I read them in book form.) 

3. To the right of the title and author, write the name of the actor who played this character in a movie version of the book or play.

Do not scroll below the photos until you fill out your answers.

CALCULATING YOUR SCORE
A) Score one point for each correct Book Title. (In one instance the movie has a different title but is based on the book.)
B) Score one point for each book author that you name correctly.
C) Score one point for identifying the actor who played that character in the movie version of the book.
D) If you correctly identify all fifteen book titles WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE CLUES give yourself a bonus of 5 points. The same goes for identifying all fifteen authors and the fifteen actors. TOTAL POSSIBLE SCORE is 60. 

EdNote: The Clues are below the two photos at the end of this list. For the Extra Points, don't look till you have given up.

* * * * * 

1. Atticus Finch

2. Rhett Butler

3. Stella Kowalski

4. Kurtz

5. Ishmael

6. Alden Pyle

7. Harry Lime

8. Ann Sullivan

9. Robert Jordan

10. Daisy

11. Winston

12. Billy Pilgrim

13. Henry Wilcox

14. Tom Hagen

15. R.P. McMurphy

EdNote: Some of these titles are red herrings.

CHOOSE TITLES FROM THIS LIST
Moby Dick, For Whom The Bell Tolls, 1984, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Godfather, The Quiet American, The Last Tycoon, Chinatown, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Great Gatsby, Gone with the Wind, Howard's End, Heart of Darkness, The Miracle Worker, To Kill A Mockingbird, Bugsy, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Third Man

EdNote: Some of these actors are also misleading.

CHOOSE ACTORS FROM THIS LIST
Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Kim Hunter, Vivien Leigh,  Richard Basehart, Mia Farrow, Michael Sachs, Brendan Fraser, John Hurt, Louise Fletcher, Holly Hunter, Faye Dunaway, Orson Welles, Gary Cooper

ANSWERS ARE BENEATH THE PHOTO BELOW

"We're just waitin' here for ya to finish. Take your time. We'll wait."

ANSWERS
1. To Kill A Mockingbird--Harper Lee/Gregory Peck
2. Gone with the Wind--Margaret Mitchell/Clark Gable
3. A Streetcar Named Desire--Tennessee Williams/Kim Hunter
4. Heart of Darkness--Joseph Conrad/Marlon Brando (Apocalypse Now)
5. Moby Dick--Herman Melville/Richard Basehart,
6. The Quiet American--Graham Greene/Brendan Fraser
7. The Third Man--Graham Greene/Orson Welles
8. The Miracle Worker--William Gibson/Ann Bancroft
9. For Whom The Bell Tolls--Ernest Hemingway/Gary Cooper
10. The Great Gatsby--F. Scott Fitzgerald/Mia Farrow 
11. 1984--George Orwell/John Hurt
12. Slaughterhouse-Five--Kurt Vonnegut/Michael Sachs
13. Howard's End--E.M. Forster/Anthony Hopkins
14. The Godfather--Mario Puzo/Robert Duvall
15. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest--Ken Kesey/Jack Nicholson

Please leave your score in the comments, either anonymously or publicly. Was this too easy? Too hard? Or just right?

Photos on this page courtesy Gary Firstenberg

Now All We Need Is A Title: Famous Books and How They Got Their Names

"A good title should be like a good metaphor; it should intrigue without being too baffling or too obvious." 
--Walker Percy

When I saw this book on the shelf at the library I said to myself, "I gotta have it." The actual title is Now all we need is a Title: Famous Book Titles and How They Got That Way.

The author, Andre Bernard, shares stories about many of the famous books we've all either read or heard of. It is structured in alphabetical order by author, beginning with James Agee (Now Let Us Praise Famous Men) to Tom Wolfe (Bonfire of the Vanities).

Interspersed throughout the book are sidebars with lists like, Titles We're Glad Got Changed (eg. The Mute was changed to The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), and books with numbers in the title, or books with colors in their title, and books with families in the title, etc. 

If you're a reader of classic literature, you will almost certainly find this book a fun little diversion. Many powerful books had titles taken from famous poems. Dee Brown took the title of his Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee from the last line of a poem by Steven Vincent Benet. Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls is lifted from a poem by John Donne. And the title of O Henry's book of short stories Of Cabbages and Kings was lifted from some verse spoken by the walrus in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. (Learn more about the life of William Sydney Porter, a.k.a. O Henry.)

It's fascinating to read the variety of titles that got rejected by editors or sometimes the authors as their masterpiece stories headed toward publication. F. Scott Fitzgerald originally liked the title Trimalchio in West Egg as his title for what would ultimately become The Great Gatsby. Gold-hatted Gatsby and The High-bouncing Lover were other titles Maxwell Perkins, his publisher, rejected.  In reading this brief anecdote about Fitzgerald's most famous novel (but least profitable during his lifetime) I realized for the first time that all those suds-filled wild parties at Gatsby's place took place during prohibition. Hence, the Fitzgerald observation, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me." In other words, they don't live by the rules like the rest of us are required to.

Did you know that Joseph Heller's Catch-22 was originally going to be Catch-18? Simon & Schuster was notified by Doubleday that Leon Uris had a novel coming out called Mira 18. Since Uris was already a big name and Heller a newby, S&S caved and suggested Heller pick a different number. 

The Bible has been a source of titles for numerous famous books. William Faulkner extracted the title Absalom, Absalom from the Old Testament story of King David's son in II Samuel. Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land was taken from Exodus 2:21-22. It's the story of a human being who returns to earth after being raised by aliens.

Orwell's 1984, begun during WW2 and completed during the dawning of the Cold War, was originally titled The Last Man in Europe. The year selected was determined by reversing the numerals 48, the year this dark vision of the future was completed.

At this point I think you get the picture. 

EdNote: If you're an author, maybe you can pocket a few of these anecdotes to use in the talk you're planning for your next book signing.

* * * 

The Joy of Naming

The Name Game (Includes titles for a number of paintings in my 2009 at The Venue @ Mohaupt Block.)

The Big Read Does Gatsby

H.L. Mencken's 1925 Review of The Great Gatsby

A Thought Stimulated by Reflecting on the Lives of London, Fitzgerald, Orwell, Camus and Others

Now that I'm 68, I can't help but notice all the writers, rock stars and other famous sorts who never made it this far. I believe Michener was roughly this age when he declared it to be one of his great achievements to have never spent a night in jail. The tongue may have been in his cheek when he said this, and I know it's something Richard Branson can't say, though Branson would chime in that his night behind bars was a highly instructive and motivational experience.

Last night I was reading an essay on George Orwell, a significant writer who died in 1950, only 46 years old. Upon reading this it my mind clicked on a recent article that cited how Albert Camus likewise came to his end at age 46. Both Camus and Orwell left reverberations for decades afterwards.

These thoughts soon triggered my recollection that Jack London, author of 40 books and countless stories, died at age 40. I'm not envious, but am indeed in awe of such productivity. And then there's F. Scott Fitzgerald, 44 when he finished drinking himself to death.

London, pictured here, whose career peaked a little earlier than Fitzgerald's, was the highest paid short story writer of his day, until Fitzgerald exceeded him during the Roaring Twenties. Keep in mind, magazines had no radio or television competition. A century ago people read for entertainment, as opposed to watching videos or movies. It was a golden age for short story writers.

I can't recall my introduction to Camus. It was a reading of The Stranger, but whether in high school or college I can't recall. I do remember studying Camus in an Existential Literature class my second semester at O.U. Dr Trevas had us read and produce papers on Camus, Sartre and Joseph Fletcher, author of Situation Ethics. Both Camus and Sartre were awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, though Sartre rejected the award.

The point of this random flow of semi-related notions has to do with the massive influence of these writers who died more than two decades younger than I.

And then there's Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Only 35, yet more than 40 symphonies and countless lesser works. Amazing. Chopin still lives on as well, though he never reached his fortieth birthday.

Let's not forget Franz Kafka (40), Stephen Crane (29), Anton Chekhov (44), Thomas Wolfe (37) and Thoreau (44).... all so young, yet unforgotten.

* * * *

As I began thinking about these many talented people whose lifespans seem so brief, I was reminded of all the artists, writers, actors and musicians who ended their careers by their own hand.  (Follow the link below to Tina Mion's New Year's Eve Party in Purgatory.)

* * * * 

Then my mind returns to the day the music died, that plane crash in an Iowa cornfield in 1959. Buddy Holly was only 22. Ritchie Valens (La Bamba) even younger, and 28 year old J.P. Richardson, the old man of the group, only 28. (Photo at right courtesy Gary Firstenberg)

* * * *

I've always told young people, "Life is longer than you think. Pursue your dreams and little by little you will achieve more than you can imagine." As I reflect on these productive giants, and especially those whose lives were cut short, I have to reconsider. 

We can't take tomorrow for granted. The time to begin really living is today.

Related Links
Shooting an Elephant
Tina Mion's New Year's Eve Party in Purgatory for Suicides
A Brief Glance at the Life of William Sydney Porter, a.k.a. O Henry

Enno ~ Part 2

SHORT STORY MONDAY

Every story begins with a seed, since only God can create ex nihilo. This story was written at a time when I was taken up with the idea of being the next Hemingway or Fitzgerald, the seed being Fitzgerald's The Crack Up. My guess is that I have been a much happier man having not achieved such fame. Hemingway's life ended in an intimate experience with a shotgun, and the author of the Great Gatsby drank himself to death. Being celebrated does not necessarily correlate to happiness. Nevertheless, having written this during a period when I believed serious literature had to be grim to be serious, I adopted the coin of the land.

Enno
Part 2

Life is essentially tragic, he was fond of saying. I did not accept this thesis at the time, that is, in the beginning, but events persuaded me and in the end I was forced to bow to his undeniable conclusion. "What took you so long?" he asked me when I finally came around. The forked query found its mark and perforated the cloak which served as my last refuge from myself. For you see, it was from myself that I was fleeing. And in Enno, the mirror would not go away. How strange the progression as I was drawn in, at first magnetized, then bewildered and, at the end, humiliated and shamed. It's funny how we never understand the real meaning of our lives until it is too late to do us any good.

•

When things are going well with us we forget how tenuous is the strand that holds us above the abyss.

While I was having the nervous breakdown I learned how helpless helplessness really is. Enno visited me in the hospital then.

"How long will you stay?" he asked.

"This is really the end for me. I don't see how I can face anyone after this."

"You made your bed."

"Yes, I made my bed."

"What are the doctors saying?"

"They are trying to sort out all the lies I have been telling myself. I sound very convincing. The worst is certain to come out," I said. "I don't think I can handle it."

"You can't run away now. You have a family to take care of."

I had no strength to reply.

•

The reservoirs were full, but the dams high and strong. The dry valley waits in vain for the rains of spring.

I can no longer understand why I feel so stonehearted. My heart is not a shell capable of being cracked open, but rather a steel bearing, solid throughout, and inanimate. Not a living organ, but rather granite, basalt, and lead.

Enno's third visit to the hospital (his second visit found me inaccessible) was the first in which we discussed the story I had written about him for Modern Maturity.

"You have created a fiction and called it fact. These are lies," he shouted. "Now what are you going to do about it."

"Show me which part is not true."

He made no effort to answer.

"Show me," I said. "I really want to know. Your name is spelled right, correct? And you are from Poland. These stories, these atrocities you experienced... not true?"

He stood tight-lipped, leaning against the table, his chin thrust forward mercilessly.

"Is it the treatment you don't like?"

"The treatment, the treatment. Dammit, you make me out to be a hero. I am no hero, godammit." He threw out his hand as if violently pushing curtains away from his face and said something in German.

I half wondered why he ever told me these stories. He told me himself that people always said his experiences should be recorded in a book. I had recorded them. Was he going to hate me for this?

"I'm not seeking immortality. Maybe you are, but I'm not. Leave me out of your damn books."

But he knew I wouldn't and I knew he really liked the idea of it.

CONTINUED

The Rise & Fall of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Yesterday I listened to a lecture called The Rise and Fall of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Dr. Elliot Engel. Professor Engel is a good storyteller and active lecturer on literary subjects. He has also written three plays, many articles and seven books, the most recent being A Dab of Dickens and A Touch of Twain.

According to Engel, Fitzgerald is one of only four significant American authors of the 20th century. As he sees it, all the rest will be forgotten in 200 years, but these four will continue to be studied: John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and the topic of this lecture, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Hemingway’s significance is chiefly due to the impact he made on modern literature. His punchy prose smashed the old rules and replaced them with a new stylebook. Short is strong, shorter stronger. Steinbeck will always be associated with his keenly perceptive Depression-era stories. Faulkner’s landscape was the South, and Fitzgerald’s the Roaring 20’s.

Fitzgerald’s life story is itself like a novel. His sisters died while he was in the womb so that when he was born his mother doted on him excessively. When she lost the two girls she vowed never to have any more children.

Though his mother came from a family with means, his dad managed to do badly in business and when Scotty was eleven they were bankrupt. As a result, they returned to Minnesota to be near her folks who could then help them get on their feet. This and other anecdotes were presented to give a backdrop for Fitzgerald’s personality development and his fascination with the Jazz Age, particularly the lifestyles of the rich and infamous.

The irony is that his life seemed to be a repeat of his dad’s. He married a girl from a wealthy background, but somehow failed at providing for her. We’re talking about Zelda here, another tragic character whose insatiable zest for life was greased with wacko zeal. Though at one time the most sought after short story writer of his day, and highest paid, Fitzgerald’s books sold badly, after the first, and Zelda’s spending far exceeded the paltry pittance their sales provided.

Eventually, his nerves were shot, and he wrote about it in a three part feature for Esquire magazine. His extreme candor resulted in his inability to sell any more work. He was “out of favor.” Here are the opening lines of that Esquire piece.

Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work -- the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside -- the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within -- that you don’t feel until it’s too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick -- the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed.

It was actually a three part series --“The Crack-Up,” “Pasting It Together,” and “Handle with Care”-- which was then published as a book. The irony is that several years later, that book helped restore Fitzgerald’s name as a writer of significance. But by this time he was dead.

Now my question is this. Do you believe Professor Engel is right? Is Fitzgerald worthy of being included in the short list of important American authors who will be remembered 200 years from now? Do you think Fitzgerald’s significance is overrated?

A few related questions: Where does Jack London stand in importance as an American writer? Hemingway? Sinclair Lewis? Thomas Wolfe? And who will be remembered from the second half of the twentieth century?

In closing, a description from near the end of The Great Gatsby, a summing up of what Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s lives were about. “They were careless people… they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money and their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”

Link to The Crack-Up

More facts about Fitzgerald

NOTE: The photo of the painting on the left was taken in a gallery on Madeline Island and is not an Ed Newman original.