This Side of Paradise (1920) - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Read by Dick Hill
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
Release date: 2015

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s pseudo- autobiographical first novel. It describes life at Princeton among the glittering, bored, and disillusioned “lost generation” of post World War1 America. Published in 1920, when he was just 23, the novel was an overnight success and propelled Fitzgerald to instant stardom as spokesman of the Jazz Age.

This Side of Paradise is romantic and witty, was written when the author was only twenty-three years old. This semi-autobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic Princeton student Amory Blaine received critical raves and catapulted Fitzgerald to instant fame. Now, readers can enjoy the newly edited, authorized version of this early classic of the Jazz Age, based on Fitzgerald’s original manuscript.

In this definitive text, This Side of Paradise captures the rhythms and romance of Fitzgerald’s youth and offers a poignant portrait of the “Lost Generation.”

The question is not, who has recorded this book but who hasn’t. There are numerous versions read with all types of accents. Dick Hill is one of the most known readers and with an accent more appropriate for a 1920’s Princeton preppy. Jeff Woodman would be next.

“F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first big hit appealed to the hedonistic youth of The Jazz Age, its immaturity aiding its popularity. …. Energetic Dick Hill has a good time with this formless novel. In so doing, he chews up a lot of scenery, but the grandiloquent author would probably approve. Indeed, he manages to take the edge off of the “romantic egoists” who so charmed one generation while seeming obnoxious to the current one. …..AudioFile