In
what must be the worst marketing email ever written, I have discovered that
Simon & Schuster has made Trimalchio,
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s early version of The
Great Gatsby, available as an e-book/Kindle. We own the hardcover,
which was $40-something when we bought it(!)—and are happy to have it—but this
is a much better bargain at $9.99.
While
the bones of The Great Gatsby are
clearly there, as a writer and a reader it was shocking to come across a number
of changes and rearrangements. For
example, there’s a scene where Daisy shows up at Jay’s house and is ready to
run away with him (she even has a suitcase).
He refuses, saying that the point is that she needs to renounce Tom or
some schoolboy ridiculousness that barely seems plausible. Another early flaw is that we don’t learn
Gatsby’s background until the book is almost over, in Chapter Eight (of Nine),
when (IMHO) it might be a little late to gin up some sympathy for him. And that awful title, of course.
If
you’re a Gatsby fan, Trimalchio is a
worthwhile investigation. Here’s
where you can order it and (supposedly) read more, though there’s not much
to read. But the cover looks great! (And
here it is on Amazon, again without much explanation or text.)
