F Scott Fitzgerald – Bio, Wife and All You Must Know About The American Writer

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F Scott Fitzgerald was a renowned American fiction writer who lived from the progressive era into the Jazz Age. His epic works gave a perfect illustration of the excess and flamboyant lifestyle that was typical of the Jazz Age. While he lived, he wasn’t as celebrated as he has grown to become after his death. That’s not to say he wasn’t successful because he did achieve a good measure of fame and fortune in his lifetime.

Today, F Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. In his lifetime, he wrote and completed four novels; This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby, and Tender Is the Night. He started the fifth one, The Last Tycoon, but could not finish it. The novel was later published after his death. He also wrote and published four short stories during his lifetime.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s Bio

F Scott Fitzgerald was born on the 24th of September 1896 as Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His father was a salesman and his mother was an Irish-Catholic woman who inherited a successful grocery store in Minnesota. His parents named him after his cousin who wrote the poem that turned out the be the words of the American national anthem. The family moved around a lot and only got to settle in St. Paul, Minnesota after his father lost his job.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s writing skills manifested quite early in life. When he was 13, he wrote his first story which centered around the escapades of a detective and was published in his school newspaper.

Though F Scott Fitzgerald could tell and write stories well, he didn’t quite excel academically. As a result of his poor academic performance, he was expelled from school. Despite this, his parents were undeterred to see him get an education, so they secured admission for him at the Newman School, a Catholic school in New Jersey. There he was a boarding student and graduated in 1913.

He moved on to Princeton to acquire tertiary education. His passion for literary works was so strong that he unintentionally traded getting a degree from Princeton for it. He wrote articles for the University’s humor magazine and stories for the literary magazine. He even wrote scripts for the musicals of the Triangle Club. In pursuit of his literary passion, F Scott Fitzgerald paid little attention to his academics. The University placed him on academic probation in 1917 for poor performance, but he eventually dropped out of Princeton to join the army.

In the time preceding his joining the army, F Scott Fitzgerald wrote his first novel, The Romantic Egoist. He submitted it for publishing but the publisher rejected the manuscript. That, however, did not deter him from going on to write some of the most critically acclaimed books today.

Who is F Scott Fitzgerald’s Wife?

Writers have been touted to have their way around words. F Scott Fitzgerald is no different. While serving his country in the army, he met Zelda Sayre. Their parts crossed at Camp Sheridan in Alabama. Zelda was the daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court Judge.

F Scott Fitzgerald proposed to Zelda afterward and all seemed to be going well for the young lovers. However, after The Great War in 1918, F Scott Fitzgerald was relieved of his duties and Zelda, who was worried that he couldn’t take care of her, called off the engagement. Although F Scott Fitzgerald later got a job to write stories for an advertising agency in New York, Zelda still hesitated.

Devastated from the breakup, F Scott Fitzgerald returned home to live with his parents. While there, he worked on one of his novels, The Romantic Egoist. The novel was accepted for publication and F Scott Fitzgerald began to get some rays of light again. Shortly after that, the couple got back together again. One week after the publication of The Romantic Egoist, they got married in 1920. One year later, the union was adorned with a son.

 

All You Must Know About the American Writer

The latter part of F Scott Fitzgerald’s life was nothing to write home apart. He became a chronic alcoholic which led to writer’s block. His wife was diagnosed with schizophrenia after her mental health deteriorated. He tried to write a novel about an American psychiatrist married to a schizophrenic. Well, the novel failed to gain traction and ended up a commercial disaster.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s condition got worse with many financial issues and he succumbed to depression. When Zelda was placed in a mental hospital in North Carolina in 1937, he abandoned her there and moved to Hollywood. He later died of a heart attack at 44.

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