This Side of Paradise  

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Chronology (by Matthew J. Bruccoli ) from birth through publication of TSP and marriage to Zelda in 1920 when Scott is 23 years old
124 September 1896 Birth of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald at 481 Laurel Avenue, St. Paul.
April 1898
After failure of his St. Paul furniture factory, Edward Fitzgerald takes job as salesman with Procter & Gamble in Buffalo, New York.
24 July 1900
Birth of Zelda Sayre at South Street, Montgomery, Alabama.
January 1901
Fitzgerald family moves to Syracuse, New York.
July 1901
Birth of Annabel Fitzgerald.
September 1903
Fitzgerald family moves back to Buffalo.
1907
Sayre family moves to 6 Pleasant Avenue, Zelda's home until her marriage.
July 1908
Edward Fitzgerald loses his job and the Fitzgerald family returns to St. Paul. FSF enters St. Paul Academy in September.
1909
Judge Sayre of the City Court is appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama.
October 1909
Publication of 'The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage' in St. Paul Academy Now & Then - FSF's first appearance in print.
August 1911
FSF writes his first play, The Girl from Lazy J, in St. Paul.
September 1911
FSF enters Newman School, Hackensack, New Jersey.
August 1912
Production of The Captured Shadow in St. Paul.
November 1912
FSF meets Father Sigourney Fay and Shane Leslie.
August 1913
Production of 'Coward' in St. Paul.
September 1913
FSF enters Princeton University with Class of 1917; meets Edmund Wilson '16 and John Peale Bishop '17.
August 1914
Production of Assorted Spirits in St. Paul.
Fall 1914
FSF contributes to Princeton Tiger.
Zelda enters Sidney Lanier High School.
December 1914
Production of Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi!, FSF's first Princeton Triangle Club show.
Christmas 1914
FSF meets Ginevra King in St. Paul.
April 1915
'Shadow Laurels,' FSF's first publication in Nassau Literary Magazine.
December 1915
FSF drops out of Princeton for remainder of junior year.
Production of The Evil Eye by Triangle Club.
September 1916
FSF returns to Princeton as member of Class of 1918.
December 1916
Production of Safety First by Triangle Club.
26 October 1917
FSF receives commission as infantry 2nd lieutenant.
20 November 1917
FSF reports to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; begins novel 'The Romantic Egotist.'
February 1918
FSF reports to Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky.
March 1918
FSF completes first draft of 'The Romantic Egotist' while on leave at Princeton; submits novel to Scribners.
April 1918
FSF transferred to Camp Gordon, Georgia.
May 1918
Zelda graduates from Sidney Lanier High School.
June 1918
FSF reports to Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama.
July 1918
FSF and Zelda meet at country club dance in Montgomery.
August 1918
Scribners declines 'The Romantic Egotist'; revised typescript rejected in October.
November 1918
FSF reports to Camp Mills, Long Island, to await embarkation; war ends before unit sent overseas.
December 1918
FSF returns to Camp Sheridan; becomes aide-de-camp to General J.A. Ryan.
February 1919
FSF discharged from army. Planning to marry Zelda, he goes to New York and works for the Barron Collier advertising agency; lives in room at 200 Claremont Avenue.
Spring 1919
FSF visits Montgomery in April, May and June as Zelda remains reluctant to commit herself to marriage. The Smart Set takes 'Babes in the Woods' - his first commercial story sale.
June 1919
Zelda breaks engagement.
July-August 1919
FSF quits advertising job and returns to St. Paul; rewrites novel while living with parents at 599 Summit Avenue.
16 September 1919
Maxwell Perkins of Scribners accepts This Side of Paradise.
November 1919
FSF becomes client of Harold Ober at Reynolds agency. First sale to The Saturday Evening Post: 'Head and Shoulders.'
FSF visits Zelda in Montgomery.
November 1919-February 1920
The Smart Set publishes 'The Debutante,' 'Porcelain and Pink,' 'Benediction,' and 'Dalyrimple Goes Wrong.'
Mid-January 1920
FSF lives in boarding house at 2900 Prytania Street in New Orleans, where he stays less than a month. Engagement to Zelda resumes during his visits to Montgomery.
March-May 1920
'Myra Meets His Family,' 'The Camel's Back,' 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair,' 'The Ice Palace,' and 'The Offshore Pirate' appear in The Saturday Evening Post.
26 March 1920
Publication of This Side of Paradise.
3 April 1920
Marriage of FSF and Zelda at rectory of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Honeymoon at Biltmore Hotel.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald Walking Tour of St. Paul, MN
6. 593/599 Summit
Scott's family had moved to this Romanesque brownstone building while Scott was away at prep school. They lived in two apartments here, 593 and 599. His grandmother died, leaving an inheritance to pay for Scott's education at Princeton. Scott did poorly in college, but his participation in writing and acting in plays made him popular. He got sick one semester, either with malaria or Tuberculosis, and dropped out. When he returned to class his poor grades made him ineligible for rejoining his favorite clubs. Unhappy at school, he joined the Army just as World War I began. He partied and danced well, but he was a poor officer. He met Zelda while partying. Each thought the other was rich, but neither was. When Scott got out of the army and got a job as a poorly paid copywriter in New York, their romance cooled. Scott kept trying to sell magazine stories and a novel, but he finally returned unhappily to his parent's home in this building, which he described in a letter as "A house below the average on a street above the average." At age 23, he doggedly rewrote his novel, hoping to win Zelda's love back by getting a book published. When he received word that the publisher accepted it, he ran up and down Summit Avenue, stopping traffic to tell drivers of his success.
He and Zelda celebrated the publication of "This Side of Paradise" in New York and soon were married. They had many unpaid bills. Scott's first advance didn't go very far. He bought a huge ledger to start keeping track of his money. He used that same ledger until his death at 44, carefully recording his novels, magazine stories, expenses and brief summaries of each year. --Please Tour all of Fitzgerald's childhood neighborhood in St. Paul.


A Model of Critical Questions (with which to begin your study of the novel)

1. Examine the edition: what is in this edition, and what use can you make of the editorial materials?
2. Examine the structure and organization of the novel: what does your examination suggest to you?
3. FSF uses epigraphs from Rupert Brooke and Oscar Wilde: what affect do these choices have

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