The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional towns of West Egg and East Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. Many literary critics consider The Great Gatsby to be one of the greatest novels ever written. The story of the book primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession with the beautiful former debutante Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval and excess, creating a portrait of the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream. Fitzgerald, inspired by the parties he had attended while visiting Long Island's North Shore, began planning the novel in 1923, desiring to produce, in his words, «„something new—something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.“» First published by Scribner's in April 1925, The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews and sold poorly. In its first year, the book sold only 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died in 1940, believing himself to be a failure and his work forgotten. However, the novel experienced a revival during World War II, and became a part of American high school curricula and numerous stage and film adaptations in the following decades. Today, The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary classic and a contender for the title of the «„Great American Novel“». Famous works of the author F. S. Fitzgerald: «„This Side of Paradise“», «„The Beautiful and Damned“», «„The Great Gatsby“», «„Tender Is the Night“», «„The Last Tycoon“», «„The Diamond as Big as the Ritz“», «„May Day“», «„The Rich Boy“», «„The Curious Case of Benjamin Button“», «„The Offshore Pirate“», «„The Ice Palace“», «„Head and Shoulders“», «„The Cut-Glass Bowl“», «„Bernice Bobs Her Hair“», «„Benediction“», «„Tales of the Jazz Age“».
