The Lost Decade by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald | Published: December 1939

The Lost Decade Synopsis

"The Lost Decade" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was published in Esquire on December 1939. This story revolves around alcoholism, and with Fitzgerald's history, parts might be inspired by his life story.

Orrison Brown is an editor for a news magazine in New York. One day a visitor with blond hair and an odd manner came to his office. Orrison can see from his card that his name is Louis Trimble. His boss has asked him to take Louis out to lunch. It was mentioned that Louis had not been in town for a while. When Orrison and Louis sit in the restaurant, Orrison notices Louis's weird utterances and behavior, making him wonder where he has been for the last decade.

Excerpt from The Lost Decade Online Book

All sorts of people came into the offices of the news-weekly and Orrison Brown had all sorts of relations with them. Outside of office hours he was "one of the editors"--during work time he was simply a curly-haired man who a year before had edited the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern and was now only too glad to take the undesirable assignments around the office, from straightening out illegible copy to playing call boy without the title.

About F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most iconic American writers of the 20th century, known for his novels and short stories that capture the glamour and excess of the Jazz Age. Born in 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald attended Princeton University but dropped out before graduating to pursue a career in writing. His first novel, "This Side of Paradise," was published in 1920 to critical acclaim and established him as a literary sensation. Throughout his life, Fitzgerald struggled with alcoholism and financial difficulties, but his legacy as a writer has endured long after he died in 1940 at age 44. Find out more about F. Scott Fitzgerald at sevenov.com.