The Beautiful and Damned (Penguin Hardback Classics)

by Geoff Dyer (Introduction), F Scott Fitzgerald (Author)

• New

  Hardcover
  2010

  $17.20

  Anthony and Gloria are the essence of Jazz Age glamour. A brilliant and magnetic couple, they fling themselves at life with an energy that is thrilling. But as money becomes tight, their marriage becomes impossible. And with their inheritance still distant, Anthony and Gloria must grow up and face reality.

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $14.86

• New

  Paperback
  1999

  $19.09

  This is Fitzgerald's second novel, published in 1922. The story displays that 'touch of disaster' which is at the centre of his work. Young, beautiful and wealthy, Gloria and Anthony want their marriage to be a 'live, glamorous performance'. Seemingly perfectly matched, their love begins to deteriorate as each discovers imperfections in the other. In a desperate search for happiness, they spend recklessly and live riotously, until the final crackup comes. In his portrayal of individualfailure, Fitzgerald illustrates the corrupting power of money and the fleeting nature of beauty. He explores a preoccupying theme - the need for illusion and the tragedy that springs from its inevitable breakdown.