Fitzgerald and the War Between the Sexes

A fresh, insightful exploration of the primary themes running through Fitzgerald’s writing: discord and disharmony in male-female relationships during the Jazz Age.

Written by the preeminent Fitzgerald biographer and literary critic Scott Donaldson, this book presents a fresh, insightful exploration of the war between the sexes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional and autobiographical writings.

The volume opens with a close reading of Tender Is the Night, in which Donaldson argues that the key theme of the novel is warfare—the struggle between the sexes for dominance in a marriage or relationship. Other essays expand on this theme, examining Fitzgerald’s assessment of love and the American dream in The Great Gatsby, Zelda Fitzgerald’s alleged affair with the French aviator Edouard Jozan, the writer’s relationship with his fellow author Dorothy Parker, and Fitzgerald’s autobiographical writings, in which he recounts his fast, extravagant life during the Jazz Age.

Engagingly written and based on a deep understanding of Fitzgerald’s life and career, Fitzgerald and the War Between the Sexes will inform and influence fans and students of Fitzgerald’s work for many years to come.