I'm Sorry about the Clock

Book excerpt: Pendleton, that virtually none of these temporal incoherences seem to have been noted before. Moreover, this study departs from the critical consensus that the earlier drafts of the novel are evidence of Fitzgerald's consummate artistry. Among the discoveries presented here are that Fitzgerald made no use of the 1922 calendar; that he did not work out the novel's time scheme until after completing about half of the manuscript version (possibly because he intended Gatsby to be much longer); and that, quite probably, he attempted to disguise at least some of the book's temporal misplacements and contradictions. Further, this study shows that even the most praised of Fitzgerald's revisions - his relocation of materials dealing with Gatsby's past so as to gradually reveal his secret - was apparently without exception accompanied by faulty temporal connections to the plot line.