Fitzgerald 116

Monday was the 116th birthday of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Born September 24, 1896, he had a helluva life as a keen observer, participant, and sometime trend-setter in flapper society. Aside from his acclaimed novels that chronicled America in the Roaring Twenties, Fitzgerald was an expert in crafting short stories. He's one of my favorite writers of that genre.

To celebrate the occasion, here are two of the stories from Fitzgerald that I've enjoyed the most (and which are now in the public domain):

"The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" (here)
"The Lees of Happiness" (here)

I also found a neat site that sells fascimile dust jackets replicating the original book covers published by the printers in the early 1900s, and a random, but entertaining post about Fitzgerald's wife Zelda. It's written by some girl calling herself "Jennifer Fabulous," but that certainly seems in the spirit.

Plus a collection of quotes in the CS Monitor and an amusing cocktail named after our man.

Update (9-25-2012) Okay, and some lines from This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald's first novel, that I recently added to FB quotes:

"Overhead the sky was half crystalline, half misty, and the night around was chill and vibrant with rich tension. From the Country Club steps the roads stretched away, dark creases on the white blanket, huge heaps of snow lining the sides like the tracks of giant moles. They lingered for a moment on the steps and watched the white holiday moon."