‘Such Friends’ Reading and Viewing Lists: F. Scott Fitzgerald & His Scribner’s Editor, Maxwell Perkins

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Maxwell Perkins

A. Scott Berg. Max Perkins:  Editor of Genius. New York:  E. P. Dutton, 1978. The full biography, excellent, by the Pulitzer-prize winning Lindbergh biographer.

Roger Burlingame. Of Making Many Books. New York:  Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1946. His father worked with Perkins, and he was called upon to write the official Scribner’s history up to that date, the glory years.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Maxwell Perkins. Dear Scott/Dear Max:  The Fitzgerald-Perkins Correspondence. Ed. by John Kuehl and Jackson R. Bryer. New York:  Scribner’s, 1971. People wrote letters in those days—great letters.

Maxwell Perkins. Editor to Author:  The Letters of Maxwell E. Perkins. Ed. by John Hall Wheelock. New York:  Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950. Edited by another great Scribner’s editor, Perkins’s knack for dealing with writers comes through in every letter.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald. Letters. Ed. by Andrew Turnbull. New York:  Scribner’s, 1963. More letters.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Harold Ober. As Ever, Scott Fitzgerald–:  Letters Between F. Scott Fitzgerald and His Literary Agent, Harold Ober, 1919-40. Ed. by Matthew Bruccoli.  Philadelphia:  Lippincott, 1971. Because Ober was involved in all his books, all the characters are in here.

F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Correspondence of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. by Matthew Bruccoli. New York:  Random House, 1980. You can’t get enough letters.

Andrew Turnbull. Scott Fitzgerald. New York:  Scribner’s, 1962. One of the better standard biographies.

‘Such Friends’ Video tips:

F. Scott Fitzgerald & His Scribner’s Editor, Maxwell Perkins

Cross Creek. Mary Steenburgen and Alfre Woodard; directed by Martin Ritt. 1983. Excellent film of the memoir of Perkins’ author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote The Yearling in northern Florida. Steenburgen’s then husband, Malcolm McDowell, appears as Perkins [in a white suit!] visiting her [fiction] after fishing with Ernest Hemingway in Key West [non-fiction].

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett; directed by David Fincher. 2008. Fitzgerald wrote it as a joke, and Hollywood turned it into a ponderous, overlong story with lots of Oscar nominations and no wins.

Genius. Colin Firth and Jude Law; directed by Michael Grandage. 2016. Currently in production, this film focuses on Perkins dramatic relationship with Thomas ‘Look Homeward, Angel’ Wolfe, and is based on the excellent Berg biography.

The Great Gatsby. Robert Redford and Mia Farrow; directed by Jack Clayton. 1974. It sure looks great. But Fitzgerald’s dialogue doesn’t always transfer well to the screen.

The Great Gatsby. Leonardo diCaprio and Carey Mulligan; directed by Baz Luhrmann. 2013. I really liked this version, and didn’t feel that it really needed 3D to come alive.

The Last Time I Saw Paris. Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor; directed by Richard Brooks. 1954. They took Fitzgerald’s story, “Babylon Revisited,” that was to be filmed with Shirley Temple, and moved it to post World War II [instead of post-World War I] Paris. A bit long but still a real tear-jerker.

The Last Tycoon. Robert deNiro and Tony Curtis; directed by Elia Kazan. 1976. Surprisingly well done adaptation except for the nitwit playing the woman who fascinates Monroe Stahr.

Tender Is the Night. Jason Robards and Jean Simmons; directed by Harry King. 1962. Doesn’t even look good, but it’s worth it to watch Robards try to dance and Oscar Levant as their piano-playing friend

I’d love to know what you think! E-mail me at kaydee@gypsyteacher.com.