Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell

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Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell

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Buy Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Biography
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Tanja Jennings
Reviewed by Tanja Jennings
Summary: This exquisitely crafted, meticulously researched, entertaining, fascinating, witty and insightful biography sparkles with the spirit of the jazz age, charting F. Scott Fitzgerald's inspiration for his magnum opus "The Great Gatsby". It is an elegiac masterpiece that plays on the reader's senses like a sad symphony as tales of lost dreams unfold.
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 448 Date: March 2014
Publisher: Virago Press
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781844087686

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In this accomplished literary biography Professor Churchwell expertly weaves together three guest lists- the Fitzgeralds and literary cast of New York, the sensationalist tragic murder victims and suspects of New Brunswick, New Jersey and the careless characters of F. Scott's novel using the Fitzgeralds' archives, newspaper clippings, literary scrapbooks,diary entries and anecdotes to link the stories and chronicle the heedless hedonism of the 1920s. It is not only a meticulously researched tribute tracing the genesis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s plot skeleton, which he roughly sketched in pencil in the back of a book, entitled Man’s Hope, but it also sparkles with sophisticated vocabulary fizzing with the effervescence of a glass of champagne providing new treats for the reader with each inviting chapter.

So if you want to discover how to conjugate the word cocktail, read about where Gatsby sprang from, explore a decade of irresponsibility and glamour and learn about the notorious Hall- Mills murder case look no further than this excellent, literary biography which includes an impressive bibliography and comprehensive notes on every source consulted. It is the perfect tribute to a literary genius forgotten in his own lifetime and a philosophical commentary on the restless, self-destructive jazz age.

To appreciate Churchwell's masterpiece, a re-reading of the classic The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald is essential. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler or Beautiful Fools by R Clifton Spargo, an account of an ill fated trip to Cuba, will also offer readers a gateway into the tragic world of a once golden, feted couple who become victims of their success and excess.

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Buy Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell at Amazon.com.

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