
Gretchen's Forty Winks by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald | Published: March 15, 1924
Gretchen's Forty Winks Synopsis
"Gretchen's Forty Winks" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was published in The Saturday Evening Post on March 15, 1924, and later, it was published in All the Sad Young Men in 1926. The story is thought to be partially based on his marriage to Zelda, a relationship that went from infatuation to dysfunction rather rapidly.
Roger Halsey is a hardworking advertising man working towards a better life. His wife, Gretchen, has a friend, George Tompkins, an interior designer who believes in a balanced life. Roger is unimpressed and doesn't believe in a balanced life. Gretchen feels troubled when her husband goes a 40 days work marathon to secure a major advertising account.
Excerpt from Gretchen's Forty Winks Online Book
The sidewalks were scratched with brittle leaves, and the bad little boy next door froze his tongue to the iron mail-box. Snow before night, sure. Autumn was over. This, of course, raised the coal question and the Christmas question; but Roger Halsey, standing on his own front porch, assured the dead suburban sky that he hadn't time for worrying about the weather. Then he let himself hurriedly into the house, and shut the subject out into the cold twilight.
About F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896. After attending Princeton University for three years, Fitzgerald left without a degree and joined the United States Army but was discharged shortly after World War I ended. Fitzgerald is regarded as one of the iconic American writers of the 20th century. He is credited with creating some of the most iconic stories in literature, including The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night. His writing style was characterized by its elegance, poignancy, and sharp wit - themes that have made him an enduring literary figure to this day. Find out more about F. Scott Fitzgerald at sevenov.com.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's Books on PageVio
Novels: This Side of Paradise | The Beautiful and Damned | The Great Gatsby | Tender Is the Night
Short Story Collections: Flappers and Philosophers | Tales of the Jazz Age | All the Sad Young Men | Taps at Reveille | The Pat Hobby Stories | Collected Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald
Plays: The Vegetable; or, From President to Postman
Here's a full list of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books.