Best known for The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The success of his first novel made him famous and let him marry the woman he loved, but he later descended into drinking and his wife had a mental breakdown.
Following the unsuccessful Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood and became a scriptwriter. He died of a heart attack in 1940, at age 44, his final novel only half completed. Today marks the 75th anniversary of his death.
In her book, So We Read On, Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan offers a fresh perspective on what makes Gatsby great – and utterly unusual.
