F Scott Fitzgerald

            
             Scott Fitzgerald is said to be one of the three most important authors to write in between the two great wars (Magill 1032). After writing the Great Gatsby he became known as the " chronicler of the Jazz Age" (Eble 95). .
             Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24 1896. On his father, Edward's, side of the family his second cousin was Francis Scott Key, the lawyer who wrote, "The Star Spangled Banner." On his mom's side of the family they inherited a million dollar grocery chain from his grandfather. This inheritance money made up for his father's inability to hold a job. Fitzgerald lived a pampered childhood mainly because two of his younger sisters had died at birth. His mom also loved showing off her good-looking son, so he became interested in girls at a young age. He even wrote in his journals as a child which girls at school he liked the most. When he was thirteen he attended St. Paul Academy where he had his first short story published. He then spent two years at a Catholic Boarding School in Hackensack, New Jersey, before enrolling at Princeton in 1913. After nearly four years of bad grades and poor health Fitzgerald dropped out of Princeton without a degree and joined the Army as a second lieutenant. .
             It was while he was on duty in the Army outside of Montgomery Alabama where he met his soon to be wife Zelda Sayre. .
             F. Scott Fitzgerald was never recognized as a great writer until the 1950's and 1960's nearly fifteen years after his death. After a successful first novel, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald "began a destructive lifestyle marked by drinking, partying, and overspending"(Magill 1032). In May of 1924 Fitzgerald and his wife spent five years abroad in Europe. During this time he became good friends with Ernest Hemmingway, who helped promote his work. Also while he was in Europe his masterpiece The Great Gatsby was published. However, besides befriending Hemmingway his trip is most recognized as one of excessive drinking and instability.