I’ve been reading madly lately, and this was one of my favourite finds. Put out by Hesperus Press, who are one of my favourite publishers, it’s a lost volume of pieces written by F. Scott Fitgerald. They were written for magazine publication but were apparently hard to place and eventually ended up in a motoring magazine and haven’t been seen since, until rediscovered by Matthew J. Bruccoli, a Fitzgerald scholar who seems to have done much over the years to bring FSF’s shorter works back into the public eye. Kudos to him for making all these available!
Rolling Junk is a road tale of Scott and Zelda on a madcap drive to the South, the ostensible reason being that Zelda is missing Southern biscuits and peaches. This is obviously not a completely factual tale (the excellent introduction discusses the differences) but it is a wonderful read. It’s humourous and thoughtful and very entertaining – Scott takes on the role of fumbling, hopeless car owner, unable to fix anything on the vehicle and very much at the mercy of the many garages at which they have to stop as the Rolling Junk seems to be practically falling to bits.
It’s also a fascinating tale for the glimpses of the American South in the early part of the 20th century, not so long after the Civil War and the ghosts of this conflict are still available. Even changes since Zelda had last visited move her to tears. There is hidden depth to this story and indications not only of what a great writer Scott would become but also of the tragic direction the Fitzgeralds’ life would take.
The only negative comment I can make is about an element which seems to turn up in quite a few introductions to Hesperus volumes – the necessity the publishers seem to feel to apologise for the fact that writers from 100 years ago are not always politically correct. I do find it insulting as a reader that I am not assumed to be intelligent or grown up enough to deal with this.
But I highly recomment this beautifully produced little book and thanks goodness Hesperus have made it available to us again.
Best Reads of 2012 « Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Dec 31, 2012 @ 17:00:48
noir-realism
May 21, 2014 @ 16:09:03
Yea, I tend to agree with your comment on the apologia of publishers having to explain and push their own agendas, moral or otherwise. It’s as if we live under some moral police, a big brother in reverse – a post-liberal world that forces everyone to conform not to some conservative agenda, but rather to some ultra-left agenda dealing with the decolonization of the mind, etc.
I even get upset by such programs of late that present the people of the Appalachian’s as stereotypes, hillbillies… and do their best to demean and castigate them not through political correctness, but through showing only a certain part of this cultural complex as if it stood for the whole. This sort of culture bashing seems retrograde in itself and has become more and more prevalent in the past few years since the notions of ‘reality tv’ took hold. Books seem to fall into this trap as well… as if they must fall into some ‘reality book’ mode or conform to some unwritten moral law. As an atheist and child of the enlightenment that sends chills up my spine in reverse: especially since I fought so hard to become tolerant of others, we seem to be told now we should become totally intolerant of others because of their not conforming to some behavioral standard. Sick.
Either way glad you popped by on noir realism… look forward to read through some of your back log… always like to start from the first posts when I discover someone of like mind. I think all great readers have certain traits that go beyond the base set of our cultures. 🙂
kaggsysbookishramblings
May 21, 2014 @ 18:41:42
Well, my taste in books has been called eclectic (for which read: all over the place!) so you’ll find a bit of variety on here! As for political correctness – it’s driving me a bit mad at the moment. It infuriates me that I can’t be trusted as a reader to make my own judgements about things – I’m intelligent enough to decide for myself what’s right and wrong in a book. And as a Scot with red-headed offspring, I’ve been on the receiving end of enough stereotypical comments to have developed quite a thick skin….. 🙂
Like you, I hate the fact that things have to fit the mould; if a book does fit into a category it can’t be sold to readers. Maybe this is why I mainly read older books nowadays….!
noir-realism
May 21, 2014 @ 21:07:29
Good for you!
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