Hay Festival Book Club – The Great Gatsby
Sarah Churchwell and Philip McGowan talk to Shahidha Bari
– Free Online
The Great Gatsby is often called the great American novel. Emblematic of an entire era, F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale of illicit desire, grand illusions, and lost dreams is rendered in a lyrical prose that revives a vanished world of glittering parties and vibrant jazz, where money and deceit walk hand in hand.
Rich in humour, sharply observant of status and class, the book tells the story of Jay Gatsby's efforts to keep his faith – in money, in love, in all the promises of America – amid the chaos and conflict of life on Long Island's Gold Coast during the Roaring Twenties.
Published 100 years ago, we revisit the classic in a new context, exploring fresh ways of reading this iconic work.
Read it? Let us know what you think on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram using #HFBookClub.
Further reading
On My Grandfather’s Novel: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby at 100 https://lithub.com/on-my-grandfathers-novel-f-scott-fitzgeralds-the-great-gatsby-at-100/
‘The Great Gatsby’ got a bad review in America. A century later, how do we see F. Scott Fitzgerald? https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2025/04/15/cbc-column-f-scott-fitzgerald-250406/
About the authorScott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota, and went to Princeton University which he left in 1917 to join the army. Among his publications were five novels, This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and The Love of the Last Tycoon (his last and unfinished work): six volumes of short stories and The Crack-Up, a selection of autobiographical pieces.
About Hay Festival Book Club
Timeless titles to offer you a break from the day to day. Can't decide what to read next? Follow your curiosity and join Hay Festival on a journey to imagine the world anew through great literature. Unconstrained by genre or form these are our monthly picks of great books worth reading (or re-reading) right now.
Throughout the month, we'll share interesting links and articles relating to our selection on social media using #HFBookClub and invite you all to get involved with your questions and comments. Each selection will also be marked with a free online event.
If you'd like to recommend a book for consideration, get in touch via bookclub@hayfestival.org.
Happy reading!
Supported by Unwin Charitable Trust.
Buy the book for this event
The Great Gatsby (Cambridge Centennial ed)
The Great Gatsby is often called the great American novel. Emblematic of an entire era, F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale of illicit desire, grand illusions, and lost dreams is rendered in a lyrical prose that revives a vanished world of glittering parties and vibrant jazz, where money and deceit walk hand in hand. Rich in humor, sharply observant of status and class, the book tells the story of Jay Gatsby's efforts to keep his faith - in money, in love, in all the promises of America - amid the chaos and conflict of life on Long Island's Gold Coast during the Roaring Twenties. This centennial edition presents the established version of the text in a collector's volume replete with social, cultural, and historical context, and numerous illustrations. The authoritative introduction examines persistent myths about Fitzgerald, his greatest work, and the age he embodies, while offering fresh ways of reading this iconic work.
