F. Scott Fitzgerald – Babylon Revisited

F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prolific American writer whose professional life was as exciting and renowned as his personal life. Along with his wife Zelda, they lived hard, drank excessively, and traveled among the wealthy social elite of their time. Zelda, once the love of his life, was also a writer and published short stories, as well as a novel “Save Me the Waltz” (cite Columbia Encyclopedia). She eventually became mentally ill and suffered numerous breakdowns, resulting in more than one visit to an insane asylum. An alcoholic in debit, Fitzgerald died at only 40 years of age, on December 21, 1940, from a heart attack. (cite James West article).
Born on September 26, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald later attended Princeton University and enlisted in the Army. He was a prolific writer who produced more material than most realize. By the time of his death he had written five novels, approximately 170 short stories, 11 plays, 96 poems, as well as various articles, essay and reviews. (cite Robert Gale). The publishing of When This Side of Paradise in 1920 helped launch Fitzgerald, then only 24, into the world of literary greats, where his popularity sky-rocketed and he gained a reputation for being a spokesman for the “Jazz Age” of the 1920’s. (West article). Unfortunately, with the decline of the Jazz Age, so came the beginning of a down-hill slide for Fitzgerald as well. His and Zelda’s extravagant life style resulted in mounting debt and the stress of continually having to publish something new and noteworthy.
Babylon Revisited was written in 1931 and published in the Saturday Evening Post and is considered by many critics to be one of Fitzgerald’s greatest short stories. It’s the story of Charlie Wales and his efforts to regain custody of his daughter, Honoria, who is under the care of her Aunt