The Beautiful and the Damned

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s second novel is a cautionary tale of reckless ambition and squandered talent set amid the glitter of Jazz-Age New York. The novel tells the story of Anthony Patch (a 1920s socialite and presumptive heir to a tycoon's fortune), the relationship with his wife Gloria, his service in the army, and alcoholism. At once a morality tale, a meditation on love, money and decadence, and a social document, the novel provides an excellent portrait of the Eastern elite as the Jazz Age begins its ascent, engulfing all classes into what will soon be known as Café Society. As with his other novels, it is a brilliant character study and an early account of the complexities of marriage and intimacy, believed to be largely based on Fitzgerald's relationship and marriage with Zelda Fitzgerald.