The Beautiful and Damned

The second novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned follows the lives of two young people - the inheritance-anticipating Anthony and the attractive but indolent heartbreaker Gloria.

Following their exploits before, during and after World War One, The Beautiful and Damned investigates the mental states and behavioural habits of both protagonists. The pair both reflect on their past excessively, idolising it disproportionately against their perceptions of the present. 

The novel is reflects accurately the author's relationship with his wife Zelda: the dynamics between Anthony and Gloria amid the lively upheavals and party atmosphere of the American Jazz Age give the novel a colourful air which strongly mirrors the lives of the Fitzgeralds, whose reputation for leisurely behaviour and partying was itself emblematic of the lively culture of the 1920s. 

Symbolic of F. Scott's Fitzgerald's preferred topics of youthful verve and the inevitable declines that arrive with aging, The Beautiful and Damned established many of the themes which would find prominence throughout Fitzgerald's life in both his short and long form fiction. Much of this novel is adapted from his wife Zelda's diaries - a fact she alternately joked about and resented.