Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald

by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald

Book Overview

Through his alcoholism and her mental illness, his career lows and her institutional confinement, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for over twenty-two years. Now, for the first time, we have the story of their love in the couple's own letters. Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda consists of more than 75 percent previously unpublished or out-of-print letters as well as extensive narrative on the Fitzgeralds' marriage by Fitzgerald scholars Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy W. Barks. Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda features black-and-white and color photographs, and a candid introduction by Eleanor Lanahan, the Fitzgeralds' granddaughter.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312268750
• ISBN13: 9780312268756
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

An intimate portrait of a fascinating couple

One of the better books I've read in the last couple of years, and no doubt my favorite non-fiction book of all time. The letters included are mostly Zelda's. Though it would be lovely to be able to read Scott's as well, don't let that dissuade you from reading the book - Zelda wrote the most lyrical and beautiful letters I have ever read. Especially interesting is her evolution from a flighty teen to a woman with serious literary and artistic aspirations, which makes the letters towards the end of the book, when her mental state is deteriorating from letter to letter, especially heartrending. Strongly recommended if you are interested in the Fitzgeralds, 1920s literature, or love

A Fantastic Collection of Literary Love Letters

Once I opened this book of F. Scott and Zelda's love letters, I was glued to it, and didn't put it down until I had read the entire book 6 hours later. This is an engrossing collection of passionate letters between two of America's most famous Jazz Age babies, full of innocence, spurned hope, desperate longing, and a never-ending belief that one day, somehow, they would end up together again. Even knowing the Fitzgeralds' history as well as I do, I was drawn in by their steamy letters, and half-believed that everything was going to turn out alright in the end for them. Maybe it did. This is a fantastic, epic collection of letters (more by Zelda than Scott), photos (I loved seeing the presents that Scott gave to Zelda), drawings, and copies of the original letters. F. Scott had such beautiful handwriting. Anyways, for anyone with even a slight interest in the Fitzgeralds, or in love letters, this is a book well worth its price, one that I thought about for days after I finished it off.

Portrait of a Marriage

This is a vivid, moving portrait of a marriage told in the couple's own words to one another. While biographer and commentators on the Fitzgeralds and their period have provided their own interpretations of the most famous exemplars of the Jazz Age, Breyer and Barks have chosen to let the protagonists speak for themselves and to each other. The result is a look at two human beings struggling to find their identities, define their relationship, and establish their place in the world relative to one another. That they only partially succeeded but never stopped trying is what makes this collection of their letters compelling reading. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to know what the world looked like to those living in, and often trapped in, its confines.