Having not had the chance to read any of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works (uncouth, I know) I found these short stories to be involving. I enjoy the style of the "Roaring '20s" and these stories are an example, I think of how Fitzgerald did much to cement the feeling of the time in public memory. One thing I really enjoyed was the recreation of St. Paul during these time periods complete with local landmarks still in existence today. I particularly enjoyed the Basil Duke Lee stories, which chronicles the everyday life of a wealthy teenager on Summit Avenue during the time which shows how little things have changed since then. However, many of the stories are quite similar in plot; young man pines for young woman, something unforeseen happens (either bad luck or bad actions on the characters' parts) and they drift apart. It can be easy for the stories to blend into each other. I was also pleasantly surprised at the inclusion of a ghost story as well. ( )

The introduction to the collection adequately sums up what can be learned from reading the stories - that Fitzgerald's constant themes of class distinction and social status developed in his adolescent experiences in St. Paul. It's clear that Fitzgerald loved St. Paul and hated it. The winters were unbearable, but the summers held promise and excitement.

More interesting is how Fitzgerald captured the youth culture at a time when "youth culture" and "teenagerhood" as we now know it was born. For the first time in history, the teen years were a true adolesence from childhood to adulthood. The characters in his stories have strict social paradigms, just as their parents did, but instead have a growing freedom to learn to make mistakes. In the Basil Lee stories, Fitzgerald perfectly captures the teenage concept of "just hanging out" during long summer evenings.

Personally, the stories were fascinating because I live just a few blocks north of the Summit Avenue neighborhood where these stories take place. Almost 100 years later, the houses still stand on Summit, but everything else around them has fundamentally changed. Fascinating! ( )