Hear the soundtrack cut "Over the Love."
Joseph O'Neill, an Irishman raised in Holland, talks about The Great Gatsby, post-9/11 New York, and his new novel, Netherland.
The canonical novel, published 90 years ago today, was initially deemed "unimportant," "painfully forced," "no more than a glorified anecdote," and "a dud."
F. Scott Fitzgerald never explicitly states Jay Gatsby’s race.
F. Scott and Zelda's turbulent marriage gave both spouses material to write about, which in turn became writing material for subsequent generations of authors.
At the height of his career, the Great Gatsby author lived worlds away from the movie industry; later in his life, he reluctantly tried to make a living off of it—to tepid results.