Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby

Written by Sarah Churchwell

Narrated by Kate Reading

Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby has become one of the world's best-loved books, delighting readers across the world. Careless People tells the true story behind F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, exploring in newly rich detail the relation of Fitzgerald's classic to the chaotic world he in which he lived. Fitzgerald set his novel in 1922, and Careless People carefully reconstructs the crucial months during which Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald returned to New York in the autumn of 1922—the parties, the drunken weekends at Great Neck, Long Island, the drives back into the city to the jazz clubs and speakeasies, the casual intersection of high society and organized crime, and the growth of celebrity culture of which the Fitzgeralds themselves were the epitome. And for the first time it returns to the story of Gatsby the high-profile murder that provided a crucial inspiration for Fitzgerald's tale.



With wit and insight, Sarah Churchwell traces the genesis of a masterpiece, discovering where fiction comes from and how it takes shape in the mind of a genius. Blending biography and history with lost and forgotten newspaper accounts, letters, and newly discovered archival material, Careless People is the biography of a book, telling the extraordinary tale of how F. Scott Fitzgerald created a classic and in the process discovered modern America.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jan 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452686691

Sarah Churchwell

Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She is the author of Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and The Invention of The Great Gatsby and The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe. Her literary journalism has appeared widely in newspapers including the Guardian, New Statesman, Financial Times, Times Literary Supplement and New York Times Book Review, and she comments regularly on arts, culture, and politics for television and radio, where appearances include Question Time, Newsnight and The Review Show. She has judged many literary prizes, including the 2017 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and she was a co-winner of the 2015 Eccles British Library Writer's Award. Her new book, Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream, will be published by Bloomsbury in May 2018.

Reviews for Careless People

[Robert Lawrentz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent foray into the time of Fitzgerald and the alchemy of of Gatsby

[vive_livre · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5

Churchwell does a good job with the research and just pure enthusiasm walking the reader through most of Fitzgerald's life. You will feel you know about him and his milieu after having read this. The murder angle just seems completely superfluous and continuously distracting. What's good is good though, I just found it entirely unnecessary.

[stephengoldenberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you think Gatsby is one of the greatest 20th century novels as I do, then this is a very useful companion to it. Some excellent analysis of the novel well interspersed with biographical details and social history - although perhaps rather too much on the notorious murder case which may have influenced the novel.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love true crime, and I love The Great Gatsby (I think its concluding sentences are honestly some of the finest ever written), so that I would love this book seemed like a given. And I did love this book, even more than I expected.

Churchwell explores the fascinating, heartbreaking, scandalous. and, yes, careless, lives of the Fitzgeralds. From Scott and Zelda's seemingly never-ending alcohol consumption and partying, to Scott's deep felt disappointment at the lack of commercial success for what he considered his finest writing, and Zelda's descent into a series of heartrending breakdowns, Churchwell makes their world and the time period they lived in come alive in vivid color.

Churchwell also expertly weaves in the still-unsolved Hall-Mills murder case, and how its scandal, adultery, and immediacy as (tabloid) newspaper fodder may have influenced The Great Gatsby.

History, mystery, and literary theory all combine to make for a fascinating non-fiction read.

[jcambridge_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having recently read Z, I had high hopes for this book. While I found it interesting, with a lot of interesting historical detail from the 20s, it was not an easy read. It got to the point I felt like I was reading a doctoral dissertation. I would recommend it to anyone who is an avid fan of Fitzgerald and the Gatsby era.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5. The nineteen twenties were a very interesting period in history and what made Fitzgerald so fascinating is that his novels documented this period, the Jazz age, perfectly. A fascinating look at this time, of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, their opulent lifestyle, his struggles to keep writing amidst the constant partying and drinking. Churchwell does a wonderful job bringing this period to light as well as showing the reader a couple in constant flux. Their is a double thread to this book, as a murder took place not far from were Scott and Zelda were living, that made the papers daily. It was a double murder, an adulterous relationship and the author ascertains that this may have influenced Fitzgerald and the plot of the Great Gatsby. I also loved that the author took pains, unlike many of the books on the Fitzgeralds, to show just how hard Scott tried to take care of his mentally ill wife, Zelda. My only complaint is that I wish the author would have spent a little less time covering the extensive partying, sometimes I found this to be over kill. Other than that this was an amazing look back at a time past and a couple that seemed larger than lif

[leahmo-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1922, Fitzgerald was 26, returning to New York for the publication of Tales of the Jazz Age. Already a wildly successful writer, he and his vivacious wife Zelda soon became absorbed in the glamorous lifestyle of jazz age NY. Prohibition meant that booze was flowing more freely than ever before, reckless drivers were killing people right and left, and a slate of murders became media sensations. In Careless People, Sarah Churchwell sets out to investigate how these factors and more influenced Fitzgerald's writing of The Great Gatsby.

Churchwell founds her book about the genesis of The Great Gatsby on the premise that Fitzgerald was greatly influenced by one particular murder. The police investigation and subsequent trial were total farces, and the case, proclaimed the “crime of the decade” dominated newspaper headlines in 1922.

Although this concept is an interesting one, I don’t think it really had the legs to stand on its own. It felt like Churchwell needed an new, original perspective from which to write about the origins of The Great Gatsby, and this murder was something that hadn’t really been written before in connection to Fitzgerald’s writing.

That said, I really loved this book. Churchwell’s research is impeccable; she dives deep into newspaper articles and clippings, correspondence, diaries, and numerous other sources to examine everything that could have influenced Fitzgerald's writing. Gatsby is one of my favorite books, and it was fascinating to read about how it came to be.

Although Careless People‘s founding premise is a bit weak, it is a stunning portrait of jazz age New York, an engaging look at the glamorous, tragic lives of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and a compelling biography of a book frequently hailed The Great American Novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. See the full review at Books Speak Volumes.

[charl08-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully published book complete with extracts from contemporary newspapers, lengthy quotes from The Great Gatsby. Churchwell makes a strong case for her belief that Fitzgerald soaked up early 1920s American crime reporting - alongside his own party-mad, gin-soaked lifestyle to create a powerful account of the myth of the American dream. So good to read a well written piece of non-fiction.