West of Sunset

After reading about the Great Gatsby this summer and then re-reading the novel, I was surprised to find a new novel written by Stewart O'Nan about the last years of F. Scott Fitzgerald in "West of Sunset." F. Scott Fitzgerald in the middle of the 1930's was broke as he had large bills paying for his daughter Scottie's boarding school and his wife's mental illness and the sanitarium that took care of her. He hadn't had much luck writing short stories or novels; at one point in the story he receives a royalty check for under two dollars. "The Great Gatsby" was not a financial success, it came out to mixed reviews. So, he heads to Hollywood lured by a set salary for working on various screenplays. The book gives a good idea of the work schedule that Scott kept, and the difficulties he had with various Hollywood types. The frustration was great as the studios would take him off a job as they would make a decision that would stop production and send him off onto a new project. As soon as the studio would move him it was expected of him to turn over his writing on one project and start on another one in short order. One could say, his work was not his own, that it belonged to the studio as long as it was paying his salary as a scriptwriter. Included in the story is his various friendships with other writers and actors and his affair with Sheliah Graham, the Hollywood columnist. He meets her early in the Hollywood years, and she keeps him company off and on as she tries to get him to stop drinking, and nurses him in his final days. F. Scoot Fitzgerald died December 21, 1940 at the age of 44.