| "THE GREAT GATSBY"
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Interest Level: Upper Grades (9-12)
ATOS Reading Level: 7.3
AR Points: 8.0
Publisher Recommended Age: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuller/Scribner
Book Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 192
Book Description:
Many consider The Great Gatsby the closest thing to the Great American Novel ever written. First published in 1925, it is the timeless story of Jay Gatsby and his love for Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby lives in the New York suburb of West Egg, where those with "new money" reside. Gatsby's mansion is right across the bay from the home of his wartime love, Daisy Buchanan, pictured always in white.
Gatsby seeks to keep his illusion of Daisy as perfect alive. He uses his money, gained through illegal means, to do so, and uses his neighbor, Nick Carroway, to try to reach Daisy. The love of money as the root of evil is a pervading theme.
Book Awards:
- Modern Library, Ranked 2nd in their list of 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century
- Time Magazine, Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005
About the Author:
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896, attended Princeton University, and published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. That same year he married Zelda Sayre and the couple divided their time between New York, Paris, and the Riviera, becoming a part of the American expatriate circle that included Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and John Dos Passos.
Fitzgerald was hailed early on as a major new voice in American fiction; his other novels include The Beautiful and Damned and Tender Is the Night. He died of a heart attack in 1940 at the age of forty-four, while working on The Love of the Last Tycoon. |
