盖茨比的故事一直以来被认为是“美国梦”的崛起、旺盛与衰落的标准象征。这个故事具有全部才子佳人传奇的必要元素——美如梦幻的女主角，貌若桃李，心如蛇蝎；超凡脱俗的男主角，出身贫寒，一鸣惊人；挥金如土的生活，悲惨凄凉的结局。它以一种独特的文学视野和新颖的表现风格，深刻揭示了“爵士时代”的“美国梦”破灭的根源，把战后美国经济繁荣时期在拜金主义生活潮流掩盖下的自私、冷漠的人性本质表现得****。盖茨比之所以“了不起”，就是因为在战后繁华的美国，在人们纵情享乐、**骄逸的社会风尚里，他依然真诚而执著地等待、追求着心中珍藏的圣洁之爱。但是，在那个物欲横流的社会环境里，无论是盖茨比、黛西，还是汤姆，对爱情的追求、付出与转移，都跟**和地位有着不可分割的联系。盖茨比生前的豪宅里高朋满座，死后却只有尼克这个穷朋友帮他张罗丧事，即使是他*亲密的生意伙伴，也拒绝出席他的葬礼。

Introduction
1. Literary Analysis: What Makes The Great Gatsby Great
2. The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald: Intertwining
of Life and Work
FROM:
"Our New Novelists of the 'Early Twenties' " (1920)
Heywood Broun, "Books" (1920)
Notice of This Side of Paradise (1921)
"Our New Novelists of the 'Early Twenties' " (1920)
Heywood Broun, "Books" (1920)
Notice of This Side of Paradise (1921)
3. Why Be Honest? The Scandals of the 1920s
FROM:
"Rosenthal Shot and Killed in Gambler's War"
(1912)
"Gambler Who Defied Police Is Shot Dead" (1912)
"Court to Hear Plea to Void Indictment of M'Manus
Today" (1929)
"M'Manus Acquitted by Order of Court of Killing
Rothstein" (1929)
James Crusinberry, "Five White Sox Men Involved,
Hoyne Aid Says" (1920)
"Plan Probe of Cohan-Tennes Losses on Sox" (1920)
James Crusinberry, " 'Benton Confessed Winning
$1,500 on Wire Tip'--Herzog" (1920)
"Inside Story of Plot to Buy World's Series" (1920)
"First Evidence of Money Paid to Sox Bared" (1920)
James Crusinberry, "Sox Suspected by Comiskey
during Series" (1920)
"Grand Jury to Hear 'Mystery' Woman's Story"
(1920)
The Testimony of Edward L. Doheny Before the U.S.
Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys
(1924)
"Texas Guinan Jailed in Dry Raid on Club" (1927)
"Texas Guinan Held in Cell Nine Hours" (1927)
"Padlock Ordered for the 300 Club" (1927)
"Texas Guinan Disappoints" (1927)
"Texas Guinan Freed in Bail" (1927)
"Texas Guinan's Club Closed for Six Months"
(1927)
"Guinan Hearing Delayed" (1927)
"Texas Guinan Held on Nuisance Charge" (1927)
"Texas Free of One Charge" (1927)
"Texas Guinan Freed on Liquor Charge" (1927)
4. The Woman Question: Changes During the 1920s
FROM:
"How a Girl Beat Leander at the Hero Game"
(1926)
Helen Christine Bennett, "Does Business Give
Women a Square Deal?" (1929)
G. Stanley Hall, "Flapper Americana Novissima"
5. Why Not Be Rich? Money in the 1920s
6. The Great Gatsby Then and Now
Index

Today, more than 80 years after its publication, The Great Gatsby seems as fresh and pertinent to American life as it did in the 1920s. The social, cultural, and historical milieu of the 1920s reflected in its pages is not so very' different from our own. This interdisciplinary collection of commentary and rich collateral materials will enrich the reader's understanding of those times and their influence on Fitzgerald's novel. The authors have included a wide variety of primary documents that capture the flavor of the era and its notorious and flamboyant players. Included are newspaper stories, first person accounts, and congressional testimony from the scandals of the 1920s. Most of the documents included in this text are available in no other printed form.