The Open Book

The Beautiful and the Damned is the story of Anthony and Gloria Patch, young, indolent, alcoholic trust fund babies, spending their lives drifting, waiting for Grandfather Patch to kick it and hand over the cash. Fitzgerald meshes different writing styles throughout the book, which is a bit discombobulating, to be quite honest. The dialogue is bright and sparkly though, and keeps things moving for the most part. There's a very cinematic vibe to the whole thing and it was easy to imagine Robert Taylor or a young Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert or Myrna Loy sparking off one another. Mostly I found the book boring with a vague undertone of nastiness, like Fitzgerald was airing his dirty laundry about his own domestic situation. Anthony's jabs at Gloria (the original manic pixie dream girl) feel like pokes at Zelda. Also the inherent racism is just gross. Not my favourite read.