A difficult read but at least a short one, The Great Gatsby is a brisk 189 pages. Fitzgerald lays down a vibrant 1920s of New York and Long Island, high society and the mysterious Jay Gatsby. The lavish parties are described so vividly by Nick Carraway I could picture them.

A high point is Nick's description of Myrtle's look as she mistakens Jordan for Tom's wife, and all the sordid details with the accident and the final confrotation between Wilson and Gatsby

I thought the plot had shades of The Talented Mr Ripley, Tom Buchanan reminded me of Freddie Miles in his contempt of Gatsby and the rage to unmask his mysterious past. 'Ripley actually was based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. The Great Gatsby stands on its own in terms of twisted narrative

The writing left me a bit cold, that or it went over my head. The first half of the book is seriously haze inducing, but things do pick up. I feel like I've skipped a lot of details but it also makes me want to re-read it

Quotes
"It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that is was necessary to whisper about in this world"
"Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known"
"That's the best thing a girl can be i the world, a beautiful little fool"
"I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor."
"The poor son of a bitch."

Fitzgerald musta used "forlorn" in a form or another four times throughout the novel.. at least that is my recollection. It is said Fitzgerald labored over crafting 'Gatsby making many revisions on pages up to the last moment before publication

The edition I got has an intro by Charles Scribner III date 1992 with notes about the deco jacket artwork by Francis Cugat which apparently was a highly collaborative process in term of inspiration for himself and Fitzgerald. Scribner III also published a letter of Fitzgerald's editor Maxwell Perkins with his response to the initial manuscript (flesh out the Gatsby character). Finally Fitzgerald scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli talks about restoring "the text" to its authoritative edition in a short afterword

The Great Gatsby is considered Fitzgerald's best work, it was adapted to a 1974 movie starring Robert Redford (Jay Gatsby), Mia Farrow (Daisy) and Sam Waterson who went incidently went to Yale, just as Nick did but is better known as the stern DA Jack McCoy on Law and Order

I think This Side Of Paradise about student life at Princeton might be good too though it might not be his most mature work