The Great Gatsby

1925

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 tragedy novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City. It depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire obsessed with reuniting with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. The novel, inspired by Fitzgerald's youthful romance and observations of lavish parties, was drafted in 1924 and published in April 1925 by Scribner's. Its iconic dust jacket art, "Celestial Eyes" by Francis Cugat, influenced the novel's imagery. Scholars emphasize the novel's treatment of social class, inherited versus self-made wealth, gender, race, and environmentalism, as well as its cynical attitude towards the American Dream. Widely considered a literary masterpiece and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel, it has sold nearly 30 million copies worldwide and is a core part of American high school curricula.