<Tr> <Th> Preceded by </Th> <Td> The Beautiful and Damned (1922) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Followed by </Th> <Td> Tender Is the Night (1934) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West and East Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922 . The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful former debutante Daisy Buchanan . Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream . </P> <P> Fitzgerald--inspired by the parties he had attended while visiting Long Island's north shore--began planning the novel in 1923, desiring to produce, in his words, "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned ." Progress was slow, with Fitzgerald completing his first draft following a move to the French Riviera in 1924 . His editor, Maxwell Perkins, felt the book was vague and persuaded the author to revise over the following winter . Fitzgerald was repeatedly ambivalent about the book's title and he considered a variety of alternatives, including titles that referenced the Roman character Trimalchio; the title he was last documented to have desired was Under the Red, White, and Blue . </P>

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