PositiveThe Star TribuneKendall Taylor’s The Gatsby Affair is, basically, an updated version of her 2001 biography of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald’s roller-coaster marriage, Sometimes Madness Is Wisdom. Even for readers of the latter book, however, there exists in Taylor’s latest enough that is new to make taking a look worthwhile. To begin with, Taylor has unearthed more details about Edouard Jozan, the French naval aviator who may or may not have had a sexual relationship with Zelda while Scott worked on The Great Gatsby ... The most heart-rending portions of the book deal with Zelda’s purported schizophrenia, a disease Taylor is adamant she did not have ... The Gatsby Affair, while only weakly explaining how Zelda’s fling with Jozan \'shaped an American classic,\' certainly shows readers once more how the kind of emotional upheaval that inspires great art can also crush the strongest spirits. The fact Scott and Zelda remained bound together is the most amazing part of this tale.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ed. Anne Margaret Daniel
MixedThe Minneapolis Star TribuneHis best writing is grounded in a specific time and place, and then propelled by his deep emotional attachment to the subject matter ... Rejected by slick magazine publishers for its suicidal conclusion, 'I’d Die for You' reaches deep into Fitzgerald’s own experience when he attempted to take his own life in a place he and Zelda haunted in Asheville, N.C., while she sought treatment for her mental illness. The remaining pieces lack what one disappointed editor perceptively called Fitzgerald’s 'incandescent' quality. They suffer from several deficiencies, not the least of which is Fitzgerald’s absence of knowledge about the subject matter ... That is not to say this collection is without merit. The inclusion of the same story with different endings shows curious readers how the author tried to mine an idea...In addition, editor Anne Margaret Daniel’s individual story introductions are highly informative, and her extensive annotations are illuminating.
