the only way i can describe this is as a big book about nothing really. i picked this book up thinking a majority of this book would be about a tumultuous affair between a young actress and a married man and was really looking for the drama and internal turmoil á la The Great Gatsby. 

unfortunately the affair between Dick and Rosemary probably only takes up about 30% of the novel. They kiss a bit and tease a little and then sleep together once and that’s about it. There’s hardly any internal push and pull from Dick discussed, or any effect on Rosemary’s life. The actual affair also took forever to culminate without the pleasant will they won’t they, it simply happened 150 pages so briefly you could’ve missed it. 

By far the most interesting part was the retelling of Nicole’s early mental illness. These couple dozen pages are probably what pushed me to finish this book. Really makes it enjoyable to see Dick selfishly fall from grace by the end. 

With so much space to deal with anything else, no wonder Fitzgerald had time to add unnecessary racist and homophobic scenes. What exactly was the purpose of Peterson dying and Rosemary finding it if that had no lasting effect on either Dick’s relationship with Rosemary or with Nicole? And what was the point of the explicit “conversion therapy” style scene describing medical treatments for homosexuality? The most I delve into Fitzgerald the more he disappoints me, even for a man of the early 20th Century.

Just overall one big disappointment. It’s such a shame, because even in this novel of his, Fitzgerald’s writing flows nicely and reads beautifully. He should perhaps stick to books of about 200 pages though. 

P.S.: Justice for my girl Nicole.