Welcome to The Dirty Bits of History. I’m Tawny Platis, a professional voice actor, who gives a casual, and comedic southern Californian retelling of the sexy, scandalous, salacious, fierce, funny, and freaky bits of history your teacher probably left out. Stay tuned after the episode or take a peek at the show notes for The Dirty Bits After Dark: Catching Up With Tawny and George, our contact info, coming attractions, and a special thank you message to our producers. For commercial-free episodes, visit Patreon.com/DirtyBits. Now, enjoy the show.

If you aren’t familiar with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, they were writers and socialites who became the poster children of what we now call, “The Jazz Age.”

Scott seems to be best known for writing, “The Great Gatsby” and less well known for mercilessly plagiarizing his wife, Zelda. They’re both notorious for alcoholism, infidelity, mental illness, and just generally causing a scene in general during the 1920s and 30’s.

After nearly a century, why are we still so obsessed with the artists? What is it about Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald that has kept them relevant generation after generation?

The academic answer would be that we remain fascinated by the duality of narcissistic geniuses and reckless self-destruction. I personally find the answer to be that America has always loved to stop and gawk at a gnarly trainwreck. And the Fitzgeralds were the gnarliest of trainwrecks. Per usge, to better understand what’s going on here and get the full picture, we have to go back to the very beginning. And because she got the shit end of the stick for so long, I’m starting out with Zelda.

If anything sounded goofy in this episode, it probably was! Don’t take my word for it - always do your own research and make sure what you’re reading is from a verified, reputable, and academic source.


Sources:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2322760/The-Great-Gatsbys-heartbreaker-F-Scott-Fitzgeralds-fatal-obsession-love-inspiration.htmlDinitia Smith (September 8, 2003). "Love Notes Drenched in Moonlight; Hints of Future Novels in Letters To Fitzgerald". New York Times.http://boatagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-day-in-film-history-lois-moran.htmlMilford, Nancy (1970), Zelda: A Biography, New York: Harper & RowPrigozy, Ruth, ed. (2002), The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-62447-9Cline, Sally (2003), Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise, New York: Arcade Publishing, ISBN 1-55970-688-0The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People -By Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, Sylvia Wallacehttps://rememberingwwi.villanova.edu/newspapers/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/01/magazine/how-crazy-was-zelda.htmlPike, Deborah (2017). The Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8262-2104-9. Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph (2002), Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald (2nd rev. ed.), Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, ISBN 1-57003-455-9Lanahan, Dorothy. "Introduction." In Bryer & Barks 2002, p. Xxviihttps://www.salon.com/2001/08/25/fitzgerald_9/The Real F. Scott Fitzgerald: Thirty-Five Years Later - by Sheilah Graham(The Lost Summer: a personal memoir of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Tony Buttitta)

Music:

“Fig Leaf Times Two,” “Fuzzball Parade,” “Maple Leaf Rag,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Public Domain Recordings Courtesy of MusOpen: Rhapsody in Blue I&II, Bullets and Bayonets