Unpublished F. Scott Fitzgerald Stories to be Released in April 2017

Don’t despair, struggling writers: Even F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction was sometimes rejected. During the mid- to late-1930s, The Great Gatsby scribe wrote an assortment of short stories that, for varying reasons, were never printed by magazines. Now, nearly 80 years after Fitzgerald’s death, The Guardian reports that these final works will be released in book form. The collection is titled I’d Die For You and will be published in April 2017.

Don’t purchase the book expecting condensed versions of The Great Gatsby, Paradise Lost, and Tender is the Night. According to publisher Simon & Schuster, the collection’s stories are a far departure—stylistically and topically—from Fitzgerald’s bestselling novels. In these stories, Fitzgerald is “writing about controversial topics, depicting young men and women who actually spoke and thought more as young men and women did, without censorship,” the publisher said in a release.

Some editors of the era didn’t like Fitzgerald’s shift in tone, and rejected the works. Other major magazines accepted the tales for publication, but never printed a final product. Instead of revising his fiction so it would sell, Fitzgerald chose instead for it to remain private—even though he badly needed both cash and publicity.

The collection’s title story, I’d Die For You, is reportedly inspired by a sad period in Fitzgerald’s later life, when he was living—and drinking heavily—in North Carolina’s mountains as his wife, Zelda, stayed in a nearby mental hospital. Learn more about the upcoming work by visiting Simon & Schuster’s website.

[h/t The Guardian]

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