Flappers and Philosophers (1920)

Okay, so the characters weren't all entirely believable. But so much fun to read! Bernice Bobs Her Hair was especially great, while Head And Shoulders was somewhere in-between tragic/hilarious/vaguely horrific. It was my first time reading Fitzgerald and going by what other people said I hadn't expected him to be so entertaining! ( )

"Flappers" was an OK book, but except for the widely-known "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and a gem called "The Cut-Glass Bowl" this book was more of a collection of shallow characters in unsurprising situations.

It's a fine book to have on your nightstand, and to read a story as you fall asleep. But there isn't much here that I'll ever come back to for a re-read. ( )

This book consists of several collections of short stories by Fitzgerald, namely ‘Flappers and Philosophers’ (1920), ‘Tales of the Jazz Age’ (1922), ‘All the Sad Young Men’ (1926), ‘Taps at Reveille’ (1935) and uncollected stories.

As with all short stories, some are hugely enjoyable and others less so. All of the stories however seem to have a melancholy, or an air of regret about them. Fitzgerald often wrote about disillusion and disappointment, but he did it so eloquently and beautifully that they were a pleasure to read even while you are commiserating with the protagonist.

My favourite stories were ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (which I have read before, but which I read again as part of this book, and again enjoyed greatly), ‘The Rough Crossing’ and the various Pat Hobby tales, which feature among the uncollected stories.

The only issue I have with short stories (any short stories, not just these) is that they tend to end rather abruptly; that is the case with some of the stories here, but the writing is so lovely to read that it really doesn’t matter. I prefer novels, where I can really get to know a character, but as short story writers go, Fitzgerald is up there with the best of them. ( )

A collection of Fitzgerald's earlier short stories, "Flappers and Philosophers" was an excellent read. The story-telling was bright and vivid and the dialogue was the sort of stuff you'd expect from the man who is considered the greatest American novelist. I liked "The Offshore Pirate," the best and "The Ice Palace," the least. There was quite a bit of wisdom weaved into the stories and logical twists, especially in "The Offshore Pirate." Fitzgerald has a way of making you pause and say: "oh, this is good..." and then continue reading till your heart drops again. ( )

I read this collection of short stories when I was teenager (inspired, I suppose, after reading The Great Gatsby in high school). My recollection was that they were beautifully written although the vocabulary sometimes exceed my knowledge of the time, making it a bit challenging to fully enjoy. I found some of the endings to be abrupt, but that is often the case in short stories. Overall though, an excellent introduction to Fitzgerald's finesse. ( )