The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald is often referred to as one of the single-most important authors in modern history. His "Lost Generation" contemporaries included the likes Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and other literary giants. At the age of 24, he published This Side of Paradise, which catapulted him to fame. A week later, he married Zelda Sayre, the love of his life, with whom he would spend the remainder of his days in an often-tumultuous but legendary romance. Throughout his career, he penned hundreds of short stories as well as classic books like Tender is the Night, The Beautiful and the Damned, and the widely successful Great Gatsby. He died at the age of 44 from a heart attack, after losing a long-term battle with alcoholism.