The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Fitzgerald
The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald
Reprints all of Zelda Fitzgerald's stories from this book, with her novel, play and essays.
Read our takeBits of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Bits of Paradise
by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald
Twenty-one magazine stories that neither Fitzgerald had collected, eleven by him, nine by her and one by both, gathered in 1973.
- 1973
- 385
About F. Scott Fitzgerald
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeBits of Paradise collects twenty-one magazine stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald that had never appeared in a book. The Bodley Head published it in London in 1973, and Scribner brought out the American edition.[1][2] Matthew J. Bruccoli chose the stories with the couple's daughter, Scottie Fitzgerald, who wrote the foreword to the London edition.[1] Eleven stories are his, nine are hers, and one, Our Own Movie Queen, is credited to both.[2]
The story, in more detail
Six of Zelda Fitzgerald's nine stories were published between July 1929 and early 1931, while the Fitzgeralds were living in France. Five were a series about types of young women for the magazine College Humor, which F. Scott Fitzgerald helped her plan early in 1929.[3][4] The other three came out under her own name. Miss Ella appeared in Scribner's Magazine in December 1931, The Continental Angle in The New Yorker in June 1932, and A Couple of Nuts in Scribner's Magazine in August 1932.[3][5]
Matthew J. Bruccoli thought A Couple of Nuts was her best story. She wrote it at the Prangins clinic. A young American couple become a hit as entertainers in France in the 1920s, and their rich patrons ruin them.[6]
The College Humor stories were printed under the byline F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, because the magazines insisted on his name. Matthew J. Bruccoli judged that she wrote them and her husband only polished them.[3] Bits of Paradise was the first book to print them with her name as author.[2]
F. Scott Fitzgerald's eleven stories run from The Popular Girl to Dearly Beloved. None of them had appeared in the four story collections he published in his lifetime.[2][4]
What's inside
The book opens with F. Scott Fitzgerald's stories: The Popular Girl, Love in the Night, Our Own Movie Queen (written with Zelda Fitzgerald), A Penny Spent, The Dance, Jacob's Ladder and The Swimmers.[2]
Zelda Fitzgerald's College Humor series follows: The Original Follies Girl, The Southern Girl, The Girl the Prince Liked and The Girl with Talent. Then come A Millionaire's Girl and Poor Working Girl.[2][5]
The book continues with F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Hotel Child and A New Leaf, and Zelda Fitzgerald's Miss Ella, The Continental Angle and A Couple of Nuts. The book ends with three of his late stories: What a Handsome Pair!, Last Kiss and Dearly Beloved.[2]
The London edition has a foreword by Scottie Fitzgerald Smith and portraits of the authors.[1]
Themes and analysis
Stories from a shared notebook
In late September 1929 F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote to their agent, Harold Ober, that the College Humor stories were worth more than the magazine paid. College Humor paid between 400 and 800 dollars for each one.
He explained that most of them drew heavily on material the couple shared. The Girl with Talent was based on the actress Mary Hay. The Girl the Prince Liked was based on Josephine Ordway. He had noted Mary Hay and Josephine Ordway in his notebook to use himself. Mary Hay also appears in Zelda Fitzgerald's long 1930 letter from Prangins, among the people they saw in Paris.
Zelda Fitzgerald's sixth story of the period, A Millionaire's Girl, went to the Saturday Evening Post under his name alone and earned 4,000 dollars. Harold Ober wrote that he felt a little guilty about leaving her name off. In Bits of Paradise the story is listed as hers.
Part of the money paid for Zelda Fitzgerald's ballet lessons in Paris. She trained with Lubov Egorova, whose studio was above the Olympia music hall, and the lessons cost 300 dollars a month.
Why we recommend it
Zelda Fitzgerald under her own name
Stories first printed under both names, or under his alone, appear here as hers.
The two Fitzgeralds side by side
His stories and hers are printed in date order in one book, so a reader can compare them directly.
Written during the French years
Zelda Fitzgerald's College Humor stories came out while the couple lived in France, and part of the money paid for her ballet lessons with Lubov Egorova in Paris.
Chosen by their daughter
Scottie Fitzgerald Smith helped choose the stories and wrote the foreword to the London edition.
What this book explores
Bring it to book club
- Read The Southern Girl next to one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's stories. Could you tell who wrote which without the credits?
- Zelda Fitzgerald's College Humor stories each describe a type of young woman. Which type does she treat most kindly?
- A Millionaire's Girl sold for 4,000 dollars under his name. What does that price tell you about the magazine market of 1930?
- Several stories draw on people the Fitzgeralds knew. Does knowing that change how you read them?
- Why might neither Fitzgerald have collected these stories during their lifetimes?
Timeline
1929
College Humor prints The Original Follies Girl in July and The Southern Girl in October, under both Fitzgeralds' names.
1930
College Humor prints The Girl the Prince Liked in February and The Girl with Talent in April.
1932
The New Yorker prints Zelda Fitzgerald's The Continental Angle on 4 June, and Scribner's Magazine prints A Couple of Nuts in August.
1973
The Bodley Head publishes Bits of Paradise in London, with a foreword by Scottie Fitzgerald Smith.
1974
Scribner publishes the American edition in New York.
1975
Pocket Books issues an American paperback in December.
1991
Zelda Fitzgerald's stories are reprinted in The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald.
Book editions
- Hardcover
- The Bodley Head
- 1973
- 9780370014944
- Hardcover
- Charles Scribner's Sons
- 1974
- 9780684139029
- Paperback
- Pocket Books
- 1975
- 9780671802509
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
Save Me the Waltz
Zelda Fitzgerald
Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda
The couple's letters, which mention several of the people behind these stories.
Read our takeBits of Paradise: frequently asked questions
What is Bits of Paradise?
A collection of twenty-one magazine stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald that had never been collected in a book. The Bodley Head published it in London in 1973, and Scribner published it in New York.
Which stories are by Zelda Fitzgerald?
Nine: The Original Follies Girl, The Southern Girl, The Girl the Prince Liked, The Girl with Talent, A Millionaire's Girl, Poor Working Girl, Miss Ella, The Continental Angle and A Couple of Nuts. Our Own Movie Queen is credited to both.
Why did some of her stories carry his name?
The magazines insisted on F. Scott Fitzgerald's name, which sold stories. The College Humor series carried both names, and A Millionaire's Girl ran in the Saturday Evening Post under his name alone.
Who chose the stories?
Matthew J. Bruccoli, the Fitzgerald scholar, with the Fitzgeralds' daughter, Scottie Fitzgerald Smith. She also wrote the foreword to the London edition.
Were the stories written in France?
Zelda Fitzgerald's College Humor series was planned early in 1929 and published from July 1929, while the Fitzgeralds were living in Paris and on the Riviera. Part of the money paid for her ballet lessons with Lubov Egorova in Paris.
Where can I read Zelda Fitzgerald's stories today?
All of her stories in Bits of Paradise are reprinted in The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald. The University of Alabama Press keeps that book in print.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document Bits of Paradise, its publication, and its place in literary history.
6↑Some Sort of Epic Grandeur, by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Save Me the Waltz and Tender Is the Night
WebsiteText archiveUsed forMatthew J. Bruccoli on A Couple of Nuts.
7Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald
LettersSt. Martin's Press, 2002Used forLetter 51, page 68, where Mary Hay is among the Fitzgeralds' Paris friends.
8Bits of paradise, edition records
WebsiteOpen LibraryUsed forEdition records for the 1974 Scribner and 1975 Pocket Books printings.
9Bits of Paradise
NovelF. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, 1973Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
i
Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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