In college I fell down the rabbit hole of Lost Generation art and literature and have since romanticized Zelda, Scott, and their ilk. In Stewart’s rendering of Fitzgerald in decline, the flash and dazzle of the years between the wars gives way to struggle and, from the writer’s perspective, new depths of indignity in his working life. No longer a young man of acclaim, Fitzgerald’s trajectory angles farther downward with each failed Hollywood script, with each disastrous family vacation, and with each empty bottle hidden in his bottom drawer.

While Fitzgerald’s inner thoughts and dialogue fuel the work, O’Nan intersperses airy setting descriptions and snappy conversations. The effect is a roaming pace suitable to the protagonist’s restlessness. Appearances by his old guard friends, new L.A. opportunists, and celebrity acquaintances revitalize a story that might otherwise slog through the mire of Fitzgerald’s debilitated psyche. It is fascinating if disheartening to observe his desperate preservation of a carefree persona even as he freefalls toward ruin.

There are some books that I try to like more than I think they merit, and this is one of them. For people who are interested in F. Scott Fitzgerald, this would be a good read, and with that in mind I rate it higher than for a general reader. The writing style and complexities of the situations are both good, but I do find that a little memory jog now an again of the characters, what they are noted for, and even using full first and last names occasionally would help the narrative.

This is a very readable novel of the final years of the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. As a twin cities resident for almost 50 years, I have driven by the Summit Avenue residence hundreds of times and lifted a toast at the Commodore Hotel. As with any historical fiction, a reader must rely upon the author to have done sufficient research to have "facts" upon which the story is created be as accurate as possible. I have frequently been disappointed. I believe Mr. O'Nan has done his homework. This novel has induced me to undertake two tasks: I now have in my possession Some Sort of Epic Grandeur, The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bruccoli, Matthew J. 1931-2008 - reviewed as the best biography of the author. Second I am going to re-read The Great Gatsby. I recommend this historical novel. Kristi & Abby Tabby "I am not a great man, but sometimes I think the impersonal and objective equality of my talent and the sacrifices of it, in pieces, to preserve its essential value has some sort of epic grandeur." F. Scott Fitzgerald

believe I'm coming to the conclusion that O'Nan is one of the best fiction authors writing today. This well-researched novel is the story of the last few years of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life. Zelda is locked away in a mental institution, their daughter Scottie is tossed away in boarding schools, and Scott himself is trying to hack out a living as a screenwriter in a tawdry and decadent Hollywood. I was very drawn into this story and world, and it wasn't a pleasant place to be. I'm a great fan of Fitzgerald's work, so this fascinated me: such exquisite writing came from such a broken-down, self-indulgent man. Can producing great art bankrupt a person's soul?

A fictionalized melancholic look at the last years of F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood as he attempts to resurrect his career and pay off the large debts he has incurred in the care of his mentally ill wife and schooling his daughter. Well written, interspersed with historical characters, this book is a worthwhile read if you are interested in the times or the character.

I was bored.

This fictionalized biography of the last three years of Fitzgerald's life is very sympathetically done. Unlike some stereotypes of him, Fitzgerald always worked and tried hard.

Sad, moody and beautifully written.

Vivid descriptions of old Hollywood, snappy late 30s dialogue, and multiple Dorothy Parker appearances make for a lovely biographical novel covering the last years of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life. The publisher's description calls it "dazzling" and that might be pushing it. I did not find the story as emotional or compelling as I had hoped, but it was well written and insightful.

With his wife Zelda confined to a North Carolina asylum, novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald spends his final years in Hollywood battling poverty, obscurity, and alcoholism. (Under)employed as a script doctor, Fitzgerald embarks on an affair with a much-younger gossip columnist, works on a novel (The Love of the Last Tycoon) and slowly drinks himself to death. Despite lively cameo appearances by luminaries such as Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and Dorothy Parker, West of Sunset is a melancholy, leisurely paced character study of a flawed man striving to create great art. Historical Fiction February 2015 newsletter.