Business Is Good

Widely regarded as one of America’s great authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald led a life of drama and extravagance that often overshadowed his writing career. This book refocuses attention on how Fitzgerald viewed and approached the business of writing. Fitzgerald scholar James L. W. West III explores the writer’s professional life through personal letters, manuscripts, his business ledger, editions of his novels, and even a “seven-year plan.” In assessing these diverse materials, West reveals fascinating details about what led Fitzgerald to follow authorship as a calling, why he took on certain projects, how he managed his finances, and what influenced his writing style. Connecting Fitzgerald’s career to his literary texts, West also provides new information on the development and publication history of some of Fitzgerald’s most important works, such as The Great Gatsby and Jacob’s Ladder. Throughout, West pays close attention to the delicate balance in Fitzgerald’s career between money and literary respectability, commerce and art.A keen, engaging, and intimate look at Fitzgerald’s day-to-day work of writing for a living, Business Is Good is a must-have for anyone who wants a better understanding of this American literary giant.

“James L. W. West III uses Fitzgerald’s original documents—many of which have never been studied—to illuminate new aspects of the writer's life and career. As a textual scholar, a damned good historicist, and the only person who has examined this archival material in such depth, West is the ideal scholar to write this book.”—Robert W. Trogdon, author of The Lousy Racket: Hemingway, Scribners, and the Business of Literature

James L. W. West III is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English Emeritus at The Pennsylvania State University. He is a biographer, book historian, and scholarly editor. West has held fellowships from the J. S. Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has had Fulbright appointments in England (at Cambridge University) and in Belgium (at the Université de Liège). From 1994 to 2019, West was the General Editor of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, now complete in eighteen volumes, sixteen under his editorship. His variorum edition of The Great Gatsby was the final volume in the series.