A psychological and social novel that captures the atmosphere of early 20th-century New York, where crime intertwines the fates of various individuals for a single day. The story unfolds over 24 hours, revealing how seemingly unrelated events intricately connect and transform the relationships of several very different people from various social strata within the New York population.
Vladimíra Žáková Books
Oxford World's Classics: The Beautiful and Damned
- 359 pages
- 13 hours of reading
F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), is a savage and haunting satire of the young, rootless post-war generation who live intent only on the pursuit of wealth and decadent pleasure. Anthony Patch's marriage to the beautiful but selfish Gloria is idyllic at first but the union slowly disintegrates as reality sets in and their goal becomes Adam Patch's fortune. Gloria's beauty fades, and Anthony's drinking takes its toll. Charting the corrosive attraction of wealth and its malign influence, The Beautiful and Damned is also a vivid portrait of early twentieth-century New York and the sights and sounds of the city's burgeoning night life.