Flappers and Philosophers was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first collection of short stories, published in 1920. I had high expectation of these stories. Scott made his name and most of his money through the publication of short stories. But my expectations were tempered. Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast reveals claims, perhaps falsely, that Scott would change the endings of his short stories (to happy endings) so that they would sell. So, what to expect?
The first story, The Offshore Pirate, ends with the female character acting in a way substantially different then throughout the story. Was this such an altered ending? Benediction has another strange ending, with a different feel and texture than the story. I wonder.
The only story that rises to the level of F. Scott Fitzgerald is Bernice Bobs Her Hair. The rest revolve around cheap gimmicks and cute tricks. For the most part his prose is superb. This is what kept me reading.
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