This Side of Paradise

Penned by a boy genius who wanted to prove himself—to the world, to Zelda, and maybe most of all, to himself.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote This Side of Paradise in a whirlwind of ambition, heartbreak, and desperation. It was 1919. He was 23, freshly discharged from the Army, and freshly rejected—by both Scribner’s and Zelda Sayre, who had called off their engagement when it became clear he couldn’t yet support her.

So he did what only a Fitzgerald would do: he rewrote the entire manuscript in a fever-dream rush, polishing the semi-autobiographical tale of a charming, disillusioned young man named Amory Blaine. He sent it back to Scribner’s with the simple, daring note: “I have rewritten the book.” This time, they said yes.

It was published in March 1920. One week later, Zelda said yes too.

The Story

Amory Blaine is everything a young man of the early 20th century might aspire to be—handsome, intelligent, and hopelessly self-absorbed. Born to privilege and educated at Princeton, he drifts through life with a mixture of idealism and cynicism, seeking love, status, and meaning in a world already fraying at the seams after World War I.

The novel follows Amory’s emotional and philosophical evolution as he stumbles through heartbreaks, social climbing, and spiritual reckonings. Part satire, part Bildungsroman, and wholly reflective of Fitzgerald’s own coming-of-age, This Side of Paradise reads like a literary mirror held up to a generation of postwar youth.

Its style is experimental, its tone both earnest and ironic, and its message clear: the golden boy’s reflection is never quite as golden as he hoped.