Gatsby’s Birthday

According to The Writer’s Almanac, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was published to mixed reviews on this day in 1925:

Fitzgerald knew there was something missing in his novel. He wrote in a letter: “The worst fault in it I think is a BIG FAULT: I gave no account (and had no feeling about or knowledge of) the emotional relations between Gatsby and Daisy from the time of their reunion to the catastrophe.”

It didn’t sell very well, either. But The Great Gatsby slowly gained popularity, and by the 1960s, it was considered a classic of American literature. Today it is one of the most-taught books in high schools.

Writer’s Almanac also notes April 10th birthdays for authors Paul Theroux (Sir Vidia’s Shadow, A Dead Hand) and Anne Lamott (Blue Shoe, Imperfect Birds).