Bedtime with Bruce “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald part 01

Bruce will start Bedtime with Bruce off by reading “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby takes place during a prosperous time in American History. In 1922, America has fully recovered from the First World War, and is enjoying prosperity during the “roaring” 1920s. The economy soared and emotions ran high. Yet, at the same time, Prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol as mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, was gaining traction. The ban on alcohol made millionaires out of bootleggers, who were smuggling in the illegal substance. That scenario is the backdrop for the novel, which contributed to its popularity. After the novel was republished in 1945 and 1953, The Great Gatsby quickly found a wide readership. Today the book is widely regarded as the epitome of the Great American Novel, and a literary classic. The Modern Library named it the second best English-language novel of the 20th Century.

Books read at Bedtime with Bruce are public domain.