THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ: A Tale of the Jazz Age
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
"The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" is a novella, included in Fitzgerald's collection Tales of the Jazz Age. Much of the story is set in Montana, a setting that may have been inspired by the summer that Fitzgerald spent near White Sulphur Springs, Montana in 1915. John T. Unger, a teenager from the Mississippi River town of Hades, is sent to a private boarding school near Boston. During the summer he visits the homes of his classmates, the majority of whom are from wealthy families. In the middle of his sophomore year, a young man named Percy Washington is placed in Unger's dorm. During the train ride Percy boasts that his father is "by far the richest man in the world", and, when challenged by Unger, boasts that his father "has a diamond bigger than the Ritz-Carlton Hotel."
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigmatic writings of the Jazz Age. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota to Edward and Mary Fitzgerald, he was raised in Buffalo in a middle-class Catholic family. Fitzgerald excelled in school from a young age and was known as an active and curious student, primarily of literature. In 1908 the family returned to St. Paul, where Fitzgerald published his first work of fiction, a detective story, at the age of 13. He completed his high school education at the Newman School in New Jersey before enrolling at Princeton University. In 1917, reeling from an ill-fated relationship and waning in his academic pursuits, Fitzgerald dropped out of Princeton to join the Army. While stationed in Alabama, he began a relationship with Zelda Sayre, a Montgomery socialite. In 1919, he moved to New York City, where he struggled to launch his career as a writer. His first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920), was a resounding success, earning Fitzgerald a sustainable income and allowing him to marry Zelda. Following the birth of his daughter Scottie in 1921, Fitzgerald published his second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned (1922), and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922), a collection of short stories. His rising reputation in New York’s social and literary scenes coincided with a growing struggle with alcoholism and the deterioration of Zelda’s mental health. Despite this, Fitzgerald managed to complete his masterpiece The Great Gatsby (1925), a withering portrait of corruption and decay at the heart of American society. After living for several years in France in Italy, the end of the decade marked the decline of Fitzgerald’s reputation as a writer, forcing him to move to Hollywood in pursuit of work as a screenwriter. His alcoholism accelerated in these last years, leading to severe heart problems and eventually his death at the age of 44. By this time, he was virtually forgotten by the public, but critical reappraisal and his influence on such writers as Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, and Richard Yates would ensure his status as one of the greatest figures in twentieth-century American fiction.
Read more from F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Complete Short Stories and Essays, Volume 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales of the Jazz Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gatsby (Pretty Books - Painted Editions) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Tycoon: The Authorized Text Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All the Sad Young Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gatsby Original Classic Edition: The Complete 1925 Text Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBabylon Revisited: And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collected Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Tycoon: An Unfinished Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'd Die For You: And Other Lost Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gatsby (Deluxe Illustrated Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trimalchio: An Early Version of The Great Gatsby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Szerelem az éjszakában – Love in the night Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Life in Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babylon Revisited Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gastby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest American Short Stories: 50+ Classics of American Literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Short Stories, Essays, and a Play, Volume 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ
Related ebooks
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diamond As Big As The Ritz: Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond as Big as the Ritz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Museum at the End of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oxford Village: In the Fifties / Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCheat River Three Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Witch of Hebron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Pecos Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Gold Rush: A Tale of the Klondike Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGold, Common Sense and Myrrh: A Christmas Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFolklore of Pagham-on-Sea Vol. 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFolklore of Pagham-on-Sea Vol. 1: Folklore of Pagham-on-Sea, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEden Springs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Kopek in the Dust Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSEEKING HENRY Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJamestown: The Novel: The story of America's beginnings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShakespeare: A Lecture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTillicums of the Trail: Being Klondike Yarns Told to Canadian Soldiers Overseas / by a Sourdough Padre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Missionary Position: Misadventures in Russia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Raft Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Seven to Seventy: Memories of a Painter and a Yankee Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pocahontas-John Smith Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRomance Island: 'Dusk on the tropic seas is a ceremony performed with reverence'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Gold Rush Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Legend of Rail Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlown to Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Literary Hearthstones of Dixie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Romance For You
Fill Me Up! Double the Pleasure: MFM Threesomes Romance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Slave Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Highlander's Bride Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Barbarian's Concubine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bred By The King In Public: Dominant King Erotic History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pride and Prejudice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil’s Submission Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Upon A Time: A Collection of Folktales, Fairytales and Legends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cold-Hearted Rake: The Ravenels, Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bound To Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Havamal - The Sayings of Odin: Ancient Norse Proverbs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Bit of Rough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lady's Tutor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Pleasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something Wonderful Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lover Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ransom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West Side Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Seven Years to Sin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Kingdom of Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Garden in England Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Alien Seduction: Outing the Flames of Passion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Visitors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bastard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Home Child Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Dweller on Two Planets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhitney, My Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Green Darkness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Memory Keeper of Kyiv: A powerful, important historical novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ
70 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fitzgerald's ability to present a theme based on stories that are almost pedestrian constantly amazes me. Each story leaves me to ponder the meaning of the mundane and his ability to moralise, empathise, sympathise and then switch to humour and back again makes me wonder how much was packed into his relatively short life. Certainly makes me a fan of the short story.
Book preview
THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ - F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ
A Tale of the Jazz Age
Published by
Books
- Advanced Digital Solutions & High-Quality eBook Formatting -
musaicumbooks@okpublishing.info
2017 OK Publishing
ISBN 978-80-272-0088-7
Reading suggestions
Table of Contents
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
I
Table of Contents
John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades — a small town on the Mississippi River — for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known from hot-box to hot-bed,
as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers. And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home. That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents. Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston — Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son.
Now in Hades — as you know if you ever have been there — the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as perhaps a little tacky.
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocketbook stuffed with money.
Remember, you are always welcome here,
he said. You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.
I know,
answered John huskily.
Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,
continued his father proudly, and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger — from Hades.
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as Hades — Your Opportunity,
or else a plain Welcome
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought — but now ….
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and passionate beauty.
*****
St. Midas’s School is half an hour from Boston in a Rolls-Pierce motor-car. The actual distance will never be known, for no one, except John T. Unger, had ever arrived there save in a Rolls-Pierce and probably no one ever will again. St. Midas’s is the most expensive and the most exclusive boys’ preparatory school in the world.
John’s first two years there passed pleasantly. The fathers of all the boys were money-kings, and John spent his summer visiting at fashionable resorts. While he was very fond of all the boys he visited, their fathers struck him as being much of a piece, and in his boyish way he often wondered at their exceeding sameness. When he told them where his home was they would ask jovially, Pretty hot down there?
and John would muster a faint smile and answer, It certainly is.
His response would have been heartier had they not all made this joke —