Trimalchio: An Early Version of The Great Gatsby (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald) - Hardcover

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521402379 ISBN 13: 9780521402378

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

This is the first edition ever published of Trimalchio, an early and complete version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald wrote the novel as Trimalchio and submitted it to Maxwell Perkins, his editor at Scribner's, who had the novel set in type and sent the galleys to Fitzgerald in France. Fitzgerald then virtually rewrote the novel in galleys, producing the book we know as The Great Gatsby. This first version, Trimalchio, has never been published and has only been read by a handful of people. It is markedly different from The Great Gatsby: two chapters were completely rewritten for the published novel, and the rest of the book was heavily revised. Characterization is different, the narrative voice of Nick Carraway is altered and, most importantly, the revelation of Jay Gatsby's past is handled in a wholly different way. James L.W. West III directs the Penn State Center for the History of the Book and is General Editor of the Cambridge Edition of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He is the author of William Styron: A Descriptive Biography (Random House, 1998).

About this title

Book Description:

This is the first edition ever published of Trimalchio, an early and complete version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald submitted the novel to his editor at Scribner's as Trimalchio, and then virtually rewrote it at galley-proof stage, producing the book we know as The Great Gatsby. This ur-version, Trimalchio, has only been seen by a handful of people until now. It is markedly different from Gatsby in characterization, narrative voice, and, most importantly, in its handling of the revelation of Jay Gatsby's past.

About the Author:

James L. W. West is Distinguished Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University, where he is a Fellow in the Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies. His most recent book is William Styron, A Life (1998).

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0521402379
• ISBN 13: 9780521402378
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 214
• Editor: James L. W. West III