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Date of Birth
Born on September 24th,1896 in St. Paul Minnesota to Edward and Molly Fitzgerald. -
Academics
Fitzgerald was put on academic prohibition because of his lack of care for school. This then motivated him to join the army. -
First Novel
While in the army, Fitzgerald wrote his first novel, “The Romantic Egotist.” It was unfortunately rejected by a publishing company. -
Out of the Army
Fitzgerald was discharged from the army in 1919. He then moved to New York City to peruse a women named Zelda. She unfortunately broke off the engagement because he wasn’t making enough money. -
Rewriting His Novel
Fitzgerald decided to quit his job and move back to St. Paul where he was born. He then rewrote his novel there and renamed it, “This side of paradise.” The novel was accepted by Maxwell Perkins in September of 1919. -
Marriage
A week after his new novel was published, Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre married in New York City. -
Second Novel
Fitzgerald and his wife moved to New York where he wrote his second novel, “The Beautiful and Damned.” -
Children
A year after their marriage, Zelda Fitzgerald became pregnant with their first and only child, Francis Scott Fitzgerald. This motivated them to move back to St. Paul for his birth. -
Moving
The Fitzgerald’s moved once again to Great Neck Long Island in order for him to be closer to Broadway because he had wrote a play. The play unfortunately failed and Fitzgerald went into debt. -
The Great Gatsby
The Fitzgerald’s went to France in the spring where he wrote “The Great Gatsby.” During the winter in Rome, he revised it. -
Novel Disappointment
The Great Gatsby received a lot of praise but the sales of the books were very disappointing. The Fitzgerald’s didn’t move from France until the end of 1926 -
Resuming Writing
In order to focus on his writing, the Fitzgerald’s moved to America where they rented out a mansion in Delaware. This is around the same time Zelda Fitzgerald began intense ballet training in hopes she would become a professional. -
Breakdown
The Fitzgerald’s moved back to Paris. Because of the intense ballet training Zelda Fitzgerald struggled with her health. She then suffered her first breakdown. Fitzgerald has to pause the writing of
his new novel and write short stories to help pay for medical bills. -
Fourth Novel
The Fitzgerald’s moved again back to America where Fitzgerald finally finished his fourth novel, “Tender is the Night.” The story closely resembled Zelda and Fitzgerald’s relationship at the time. -
Crack up Years
During this time of Fitzgerald’s life, he struggled with alcoholism and wasn’t able to write stories.His child was then sent to boarding school because they weren’t able to maintain a home for her. -
Screen Writing / Script Writing
Fitzgerald moved alone to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter and he also began working as a freelance script writer. This same year he began working on “The Love of the Last Tycoon.” It was only half written. -
Death
Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21st, 1940. He died believing he was a failure because of his alcoholism and not being able to publish novels frequently.