The Beautiful and Damned and Other Stories

Book excerpt: Feel the swing and sway of the Jazz Age in this collection of stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned explores the world of America’s upper class during World War I and the beginning of the Jazz Age. Loosely based on Fitzgerald’s relationship with his wife, Zelda, the novel centers around Anthony Patch, a young East Coast socialite who is heir to his grandfather’s fortune and lacks motivation to pursue a meaningful career. In his attempt to find his place in society while waiting for his inheritance, Anthony loses himself to alcoholism; neglects his wife, Gloria; and struggles with the realities of everyday life. This volume also includes seven short stories by Fitzgerald published in the early 1920s, including “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”