"Guitar, dice, and brass knuckles. All these young men are sad…" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, summary

In his 1926 collection of short stories, F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the emotional crisis of the Jazz Age’s "Lost Generation." Translated into Russian in 2015, the edition brings together works written by the author between 1922 and 1925, as well as a later memoir from 1933. The book revolves around the themes of the disintegration of youthful illusions, emotional exhaustion, social stratification, and the futile search for an ideal.

Tragedies of satiety and lost dreams

The collection opens with a brief autobiographical chronicle of drinks, spanning the period from 1913 to 1929. This list of alcoholic beverages serves as a laconic epigraph to the author’s coming of age against the backdrop of a changing era.

Anson Hunter, from the story "Rich Boy," was raised in an atmosphere of New York wealth and his own absolute superiority. In 1917, in Pensacola, he falls in love with Paula Legendre. However, during a trip north, Anson’s drunken outburst at a Hempstead soiree damages their romantic relationship. Due to Anson’s pride and addiction to alcohol, the engagement is called off. Paula marries Lowell Thayer. Anson tries to fill his inner emptiness with a relationship with Dolly Karger, but rejects her during a country trip to Long Island, barely noticing Paula’s portrait. Later, Anson intervenes in his Aunt Edna’s secret affair with Cary Sloan. He manages to force the lovers to separate, leading Sloan to commit suicide, and Anson himself falls out of favor with his Uncle Robert’s family. Years later, Anson learns that Paula died in childbirth, but immediately switches his attention to a new random fellow traveler on the steamship "Paris", remaining deaf to the pain of others.

Dexter Green from Winter Dreams, the son of a small-town grocer from Black Bear, has been captivated by the wealthy and flighty Judy Jones since the age of fourteen. For her sake, he quits his job as a golf club caddy. As he grows older, Dexter opens a chain of laundries and achieves financial success. Years later, he meets Judy again on the golf course. Judy manipulates admirers, attracting and rejecting men. Dexter is engaged to the devoted Irene Shearer, but when Judy is first called up for military service, she abandons her fiancée. Seven years pass. Dexter moves to New York, experiences the war in 1917, and learns from Detroit businessman Devlin that Judy has married the alcoholic Lud Sims, who treats her badly, and has lost all her beauty. Dexter weeps not for Judy, but for the final demise of his own youthful hopes.

Family conflicts and spiritual dead ends

The story "Little Visitors" centers on the John Andros family. Arriving at a children’s party at the house of the Marky neighbors, his wife, Edith, watches as their two-year-old daughter, Edie, snatches a teddy bear from little Billy Marky and accidentally pushes the boy. Billy’s mother blames the Andros child, and Edith laughs, supporting her daughter. The domestic incident escalates into a quarrel between the mothers, and then into a twenty-minute nighttime brawl between John Andros and Joe Marky on the snowy lawn. The exhausted men make peace, and John realizes he is ready to fight furiously for the peace of his family.

The story "Absolution" reveals the inner world of eleven-year-old Rudolph Miller, who created an imaginary ego named Blatchford Sarnemington. The boy lied in confession and then accidentally drank water before receiving communion. Fearing a brutal beating from his hot-tempered Father Karl, who had beaten him in the kitchen, Rudolph conceals his mistake and receives communion, committing sacrilege. Seeking spiritual salvation, he turns to Father Schwartz. However, the priest is on the verge of insanity, raving about amusement parks and collapsing unconscious on the floor. Rudolph flees in panic, finally distancing himself from religion and retreating into a world of his own illusions.

In the novella "The Doctor," Louella Hemple is burdened by the routine of her family, her child Chuck, and her husband Charles. The enigmatic Dr. Moon enters her life. Charles’s sudden nervous breakdown forces Louella to take charge of the household. The death of little Chuck from illness completely shatters the old order. Dr. Moon, who turns out to be the personification of five years, explains to Louella the need to grow up and serve her loved ones, and then disappears.

Jim Mazer, the hero of the story "Ice and Fire," is known for his willingness to help, offering his seat on public transportation and lending money to acquaintances. His pregnant wife, Jacqueline, sees this as weakness, especially when Jim lends three hundred dollars to the unreliable Bronson, who uses the money to buy a car. Jim tries to toughen up and refuses a loan to his father’s elderly friend, Mr. Lacey. However, his inner nobility prevails, and Jim calls the old man back to offer his assistance.

Irony, adventures and the test of success

In Martin-Jones’s "The Little Orphan and Prince Ulsky," a wealthy heiress demands a thrill from the amorous John Chestnut. John orchestrates a large-scale staging at a restaurant: he pretends to be the Prince of Wales, played by a look-alike elevator boy named Cedric, and arranges for the police to show up and a shootout with blanks. The little Orphan is delighted by this performance and agrees to marry John.

In the novella "The Wiser Thing…," young engineer George O’Kelly leaves his beloved profession to earn a living in New York. His fiancée, Jonquil Carey, breaks off their engagement due to lack of financial prospects. Within a year, George achieves significant financial success on construction projects in Peru and returns to Jonquil. She is ready to marry him, but George senses that their former youthful ardor has died and their feelings have changed.

The story "Sleep, Gretchen!" tells the story of advertising executive Roger Halsey, who exhausts himself with night shifts to secure a contract with Garrod’s firm. His wife, Gretchen, is bored and spends time with designer George Tompkins, who preaches a "balanced life." Roger sends Tompkins away, drugs his wife’s coffee to prevent him from interrupting his work, and wins the contract. Tompkins, meanwhile, ends up hospitalized with a nervous breakdown from his exercise.

In the story "Guitar, Bones, and Brass Knuckles," Southerner Jim Powell comes to New Jersey to visit his girlfriend, Amanthis, and opens the Jazz Academy in Southampton. He teaches the gilded youth guitar, dice, and self-defense. The local elite closes the establishment after Jim’s confrontation with a drunken Van Vleck, but it turns out that Amanthis is a wealthy relative of the Harlans, hosts of the local ball, who organized the celebration in her honor.

A memoir portrait of a fellow writer

The collection concludes with the essay "Ring Lardner," written in 1933. F. Scott Fitzgerald recreates the character of his close friend, the satirist Ring Lardner. The author describes Lardner’s inner despair, his passion for baseball, the underappreciation of his talent, and his tragic decline from illness. Fitzgerald emphasizes that Lardner’s personality transcended his published works, and his nobility and hidden sadness remain forever etched in the memories of those close to him.