Step Right In and Come of Age in the Early Twentieth Century:
A Book Review of The Genius of F. Scott Fitzgerald: Flappers and Philosophers ( 8 Short Stories) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

More book reviews at Voracia: Goddess of Words.

This little book of eight short stories took me about a week to read, and now I'm very sorry that it's over. All of the stories were very entertaining and vivid. In between reading it, I would feel like I was a nineteen-year-old girl in the first or second decade of the twentieth century. Many of the stories in this book are focused on girls of that age, and I thought it was quite strange that Fitzgerald could write so well about them. Almost all of the stories can be classified as "coming of age" stories in the early twentieth century.

The book starts off with a strong and rebellious nineteen-year-old girl in “The Offshore Pirate.” That first story was probably my favorite. My second favorite was probably “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” which was also about a nineteen-year-old who was figuring herself out a lot more than the heroine from the first story was (in the first story, the main characterknew exactly who she was and what she wanted). I also liked “The Ice Palace,” in which a very vivacious teenager named Sally Carroll visits a Northeastern city in the hopes of marrying, and finds out that she really misses the colorful southern town in which she grew up.

The last story in the collection, “The Four Fists,” features a manly man who gets knocked down by four punches in his lifetime, each of which teaches him an important lesson, and the story takes him from New York to the oil fields of Texas and the ranches of New Mexico. It was rather refreshing to read a burly story after all the quite feminine ones, but I truly liked them all. The second-to-last story, “Dalyrimple Goes Wrong,” also features a male character and his descent into shadiness. What I noticed is how differently Fitzgerald writes about male characters than female characters: there's less internal monologue and descriptions of thoughts and conversations, and more action at a swiftly moving pace. One story, “Head and Shoulders” does a beautiful job of explaining a role reversal of sorts, in which the female character shines and the male character withers.

To read this book was to be transported back to a totally different time--anywhere from the 1890's to the 19-teens, and to totally different places--usually New England towns, Ivy League educational institutions, and country clubs. I enjoyed the scenes about fox trots and flappers and jazz music and I wished, sometimes, that I could have lived back then. But Fitzgerald has great sympathy for his female characters. “The Cut-Glass Bowl” features the downfall of one of them. The strong character of Marjorie in “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” disapprovingly intersperses witled and unloved housewives into the main story of a young unmarried girl.

If I carry one thing away from Flappers and Philosophers other than hours of entertaining reading, it is a remark on the position of young women in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The stories feature girls at the cusp of womanhood who wear rose-tinted glasses and think that life is about dances and social events. Yet the men are the ones getting an education, seeing the world and taking part in all of the action (again with the exception of the uniquely witty “Heads and Shoulders” plot). In this sense, as a woman, I am very happy to be living in the 21st century and only reading about these female characters in the early 20th century.

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Picked up the Pocket Books "Enriched Classics" (which makes the book sound like bark'n'twigs breakfast cereal) edition.

According to the crappy critical analysis section, The Fitz sent Mencken a first-edition inscribed: Worth Reading - "The Ice Palace, "The Cut-Glass Bowl", "Benediction", "Dalyrimple Goes Wrong"; Amusing - "The Offshore Pirate"; Trash - "Head and Shoulders", "The Four Fists", "Bernice Bobs Her Hair".

The Fitz was right. All of these stories recreate the Twenties and its glory, but the first four stories deal with large, universal issues. The others - Amusing and Trash - are bright, airy shorts which float along in testament to The Fitz's storytelling skill, not his literary acumen.

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Flappers and Philosophers is a collection of eight short stories. I enjoyed them to differing degrees, so it would be silly of me to write a review on the book as a whole. I don't really like The Great Gatsby. I also don't really enjoy short stories.
I'm not sure why I chose this book, but I'm glad I did. Although I didn't like some of the stories, they all evoked such a powerful image of the jazz age - especially the world of young socialite women. It was fascinating and just wonderful.

The Offshore Pirate: Ardita is a spoiled, bored, rich, beautiful 19-year-old socialite. When her yacht comes under attack by fugitives (a jazz band), she hooks up with the leader of their gang. I would have too. He was pretty dreamy. Twist at the end that made it more than just a boy-and-girl-forbidden-relationship thing, but I liked the boy-and-girl-forbidden-relationship thing.

The Ice Palace: A southern belle goes to a Yankee city and is appalled by cold weather. Although I can't relate as a cold person, I can relate as a person new to town who is utterly discombobulated and unnerved by the surroundings and strange mannerisms of the people. An excellent job of portraying a gripping fear of nothing.

Head and Shoulders: Entirely enjoyable. Full of twists that, if written by a less skilled writer, would have seemed insane and stupid.

The cut-glass bowl: An evil glass bowl wreaks havoc on a family. Sounds stupid? It kind of is. Why didn't they just get rid of the damned bowl?

Bernice Bobs Her Hair: My favorite by far. Bernice is staying at Marjories for the summer, and she is being such a drag. Marjorie gives Bernice a few lessons on how to be a socialite - a great commentary on the social lives of society girls in the teens. Bernice follows the instructions, steals Marjories boyfriend, and then Marjorie gets her revenge. It's pretty damned cool.

Benediction: A shy, romantic girl visits her brother in his monastery and gets a clue about life. Sounds dull? It's not. Lyrical and heartbreaking. It made me sigh and feel like I wasn't living my life to its full potential.

Dalyrimple goes wrong: Another story full of twists. First, Dalyrimple plays it right and gets screwed over, then he goes bad and - no, he doesn't get screwed over, he is rewarded for being a good guy before going bad. Huh. What a world. NOT my favorite.

The Four Fists: Four times in his life Samuel has taken a hit in the face. This short story outlines those four times and what he learned from each. Extraordinarily well written. This and Bernice were my two favorites. ( )