“So during all this time there were many adventures that happened in the great city, and, of these, several — or perhaps one — are here set down.”

My favourite writer of all-time is F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Great Gatsby still represents the closest thing to “a perfect novel” as I have ever read.

But I think he was much stronger as a short story writer than a novelist. His short stories can be broken down into two general categories: his “literary” stories and his money-making stories. Fitzgerald once complained that these adventures sold to the general public took only a week to write but were his most popular ones, while the stories he laboured over for three weeks or more were largely ignored. Although I can see where he was coming from, making $3,000 per story (in 1920’s dollars) I imagine softened the blow a little bit…

One of his great literary stories is May Day. As the name suggests, it takes place on May 1, just after the end of WWI. It actually follows the lives of several different people throughout the day, giving a great “slice of life” of New York, 1919.

This story may also be the origin of the term “morally bankrupt” (if anyone can confirm or deny this, please let me know!), though the meaning now is a little more defined than the way Fitzgerald uses it.

Since this story was published before 1923 US copyright laws took effect, the story is in the public domain and can be legally viewed online. If it’s been a while, take some time today to re-read this classic. And if you have never read it, treat yourself to one of the greatest stories that Fitzgerald ever wrote. I’ll be reading it a some point today:

http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/mayday/mayday.html

Happy Reading!

~Graham