Scott Fitzgerald

An item at American Writers Museum

In 1920, 23-year old F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise. It was a smash hit. That same year, he married heiress Zelda Sayre. The two became Jazz Age celebrities and Fitzgerald's short stories and novels captured the ebullience, excess, and irony of the era.

For all of its sparkle, Fitzgerald's work is also thoughtful, yearning, and poignant. His classic novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), is a rueful examination of the American Dream and, ultimately, its emptiness. Fitzgerald, too, experienced the elusiveness of this dream. After his initial flush of success, he struggled with his finances, marriage, and health, dying at 44.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum