Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale.

In its first year, the book sold only 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died in 1940, believing himself to be a failure, but The Great Gatsby experienced a revival during World War II. Today it is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.

Fitzgerald's masterpiece follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West and East Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922.

If Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgerald's personality, the flashy celebrity who pursued and glorified wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick Carraway represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East.

His fortune, we are told, is the result of a bootlegging business. He bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores and sold grain alcohol over the counter.

Gatsby was born James "Jimmy" Gatz.

Gatsby stares obsessively at the green light, knowing that the object of his desire is just across the water.

One of Gatsby's underworld connections, Wolfsheim wears cuff-links made from human molars.

Tom and Daisy Buchanan are married and live in East Egg. Gatsby and Nick live in West Egg.

Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house without telling her that Gatsby will also be there.