Master the 40: The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald
In 1929 F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote Ernest Hemingway that because his short stories now earned $4000 a pop he was "an old whore" who had "mastered the 40 positions" when "in her youth one was enough." But were the upwards of 180 stories he cranked out when not writing The Great Gatsby really the work of a literary prostitute selling out his talent for a fast buck? Kirk Curnutt and Robert Trogdon don't think so. Each episode they draw a random title from a hat and explore its place in Fitzgerald's career, in the magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post or Esquire where it may have appeared, and in the overall development of the American short story. Along the way, they talk literary politics, history, and gossip from the 1920s and 1930s, rediscovering the lively personalities and rivalries that tried to define the porous boundaries between commercial and artistic fiction, between the popular and the avant-garde, between the forgotten and the canonized.
Master the 40: The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
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F. Scott Fitzgerald's fantasy about a man born at seventy who ages backwards has become one of his most famous short stories, thanks in no small part to a certain 2008 movie starring Brad Pitt that was, honestly, kind of wishy-washy. The story has more recently been adapted into opera and is about to debut as a New York musical, although the plot bears only a superficial resemblance to Fitzgerald's. (Same for the movie). The question for Fitzgerald fans is whether the premise packs a more significant punch that the actual plot or characters. First published in the May 27, 1922 issue of Collier's, "Benjamin Button" can feel more like a conceit than a fully realized short story, with many of its episodes emphasizing the joke over the humanity. That said, the story offers some important insights into Fitzgerald's feelings for the South (it begins in pro-Confederate Baltimore before "devolving" into the 1920s) and, of course, his lifelong obsession with youth. Curious? Give "Benjamin Button" a try!