Der grosse Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, the quintessential American novel, was a commercial flop upon its release in 1925. Critics also failed to recognize the significance of the novel. It wasn't until after the war, and certainly by 1974 with the film adaptation starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, that Fitzgerald and his masterpiece about the fabulously wealthy Gatsby, who throws extravagant parties solely to lure Daisy to him, began to experience a renaissance. Daisy, his great love from youth, is now married to millionaire Tom Buchanan, who inherited his wealth rather than acquiring it through dubious means like Gatsby. Money and pretension govern this world, and love ultimately falls by the wayside—in one of the greatest love stories in world literature. The first edition, featuring the famous cover illustration by Francis Cugat, remained available long after Fitzgerald's death in 1940. Today, a copy (though only with a dust jacket) fetches over $200,000 at auctions. Interestingly, in this case, the illustrator inspired the author—not the other way around. Cugat's gouache drawing was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was thrilled. In a letter to his editor Max Perkins, he wrote: "For God's sake, do not use this cover for another book; I have written it into my novel.".