The Crack-Up
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The uncertainties of 1919 were over—there seemed little doubt about what was going to happen—America was going on the greatest, gaudiest spree in history and there was going to be plenty to tell about it. The whole golden boom was in the air—its splendid generosities, its outrageous corruptions and the tortuous death struggle of the old America in prohibition. All the stories that came into my head had a touch of disaster in them—the lovely young creatures in my novels went to ruin . . . my millionaires were as beautiful and damned as Thomas Hardy’s peasants."—"The Crack-Up" by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
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The Crack-Up (1945) is a book by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. It consists of previously unpublished letters, notes and also three essays originally written for and published first in the "Esquire" magazine during 1936. It was compiled and edited by Edmund Wilson shortly after Fitzgerald's death in 1940.
The main essay starts "Of course all life is a process of breaking down ...." which gives something of the tone of the piece.
Essays
- "The Crack-Up" (originally "Esquire" magazine, February 1936)
- "Pasting It Together" (originally "Esquire" magazine, March 1936)
- "Handle with Care" (originally "Esquire" magazine, April 1936)
- collected together under the title "The Crackup" in the book
It also included positive evaluations of his work by Glenway Wescott, John Dos Passos, John Peale Bishop, et. al.
Reaction
The essays when originally written were poorly received and many were openly critical, particularly of the personal revelations. However time has been somewhat kinder to them and the collection is an insight into the mind of the writer during this low period in his life.
