Everyone went so ga-ga over Baz's
The Great Gatsby movie and having "twenties" parties were all the rage. I had that "been there, done that" feeling. A few years ago, wait, it was a few lifetimes ago...anyway...Richard Peabody and I threw an anniversary party for Scott and Zelda. Much like those parties in
The Great Gatsby, a good time was had by all. No one was run over by a car or shot because of it, so maybe we didn't have such a great time, but I digress.
During the height of last year's Gatsby roaring twenties overload, the Huffington Post published a list of
12 Things You Didn't Know about Scott and Zelda. Well, we knew them, but I must confess, it was the first time in years that I had seen the word "furbelows" in print.
In honor of Scott and Zelda's anniversary, I though I would give a shout out to gin...no wait...a shout out to two relatively new books I enjoyed.
Sarah Churchwell's
Careless People derives its title from Fitzgerald's assertion that "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy...." Churchwell delves into a then-famous but now forgotten murder of a married Episcopal minister and his married love interest. Edward W. Hall and
Eleanor Reinhardt Mills died in an abandoned farm house. The bodies were found with their love letters littered about and the site became a tourist attraction. The stories of their affair and murder were rampant during the time
The Great Gatsby was being written.
Careless People is rooted in the facts of the case, but the case for for it being a large influence on Fitzgerald is quite speculative. Still if you love the twenties, you will enjoy this book immensely.
The other book is
Flappers, by Judith Mackrell.
I wrote about it in February, so you can check it out, here. One of the six flappers is Zelda. (Speaking of Alabama, one of the other flappers is Tallulah Bankhead.)
Zelda died locked in a mental institution. Scott died broke with his books out of print. One does hope there is a heaven. That they are happy and know that we still love them.
And now...I am off to be careless and drink gin...
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