This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920) ***

This was Fitzgerald's first novel, published when he was only 24 years old. Fitzgerald had quit Princeton as an undergraduate and joined the Army, working on the manuscript while waiting to be shipped overseas. When armistice was declared he focused on completing the novel in the hopes that he'd then be able to marry Zelda Sayre. The novel was an instant success and he married Zelda eight days after it was published.

Although not his best known work today (Great Gatsby has that honor), nor his best writing (Tender is the Night is usually considered his best), it was a most timely novel about what would become known as 'the lost generation', that generation of young people who were disillusioned and disoriented by the horrors of World War I and the inability of governments to resolve their conflicts in a more expeditious and humane way.

The story mirrors the times and is largely autobiographical. The protagonist is an undergraduate at Princeton, Amory Blaine, who's not sure what he wants to do with his life. Lessons learned in prep school no longer seem adequate. There's lots of partying and drinking. This was, after all, the time of Prohibition, which seemed to make drinking all the more fashionable, especially among college students. He experience several failed romantic relationships along the way and eventually his drinking becomes his undoing.

It's not a very uplifting book but then few 'coming of age' novels ever are. Still, it has the appeal of revealing and reflecting a period of history in our country which still influences much of our national culture. If you've read The Great Gatsby, this little novel will give you some insight into the times and the author of that memorable story.