10 Best F Scott Fitzgerald Books
The best F. Scott Fitzgerald books, ranked by how many expert sources recommend it, with notes on who each suits and where to begin his novels and stories.
Our take
F. Scott Fitzgerald writes about desire, status, money, and the difficulty of separating the life people imagine from the one they inhabit. The glamour of his settings often sits beside insecurity and disappointment. His short fiction also makes room for comedy, fantasy, and sharper changes of mood.
The Great Gatsby gives those concerns a compact structure and is an accessible first novel. Tender Is the Night is longer and more psychologically involved, while The Beautiful and Damned follows entitlement and disillusionment at greater length. This Side of Paradise offers a more uneven but revealing early portrait of youth and ambition. Readers who prefer shorter work can choose the original collection Flappers and Philosophers or the broader selection The Short Stories. The Crack-Up turns toward essays and correspondence, and The Last Tycoon remains an unfinished novel.
Start with The Great Gatsby, then try the stories before deciding whether you want the longer emotional commitment of Tender Is the Night.
10 books · 8 sources · Last updated
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How to choose from this list
Skip to the full rankingIf you're reading Fitzgerald for the first time: The Great Gatsby
If you want a longer psychological novel: Tender Is the Night
If you prefer short fiction: Flappers and Philosophers → Tales of the Jazz Age → The Short Stories
If you want a brief fantastical story: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
If you're interested in the writer's reflections: The Crack-Up
If you're curious about Hollywood: The Last Tycoon
The 10 books, ranked
Ranked by how many expert sources name each book. Ties go to the book more people recommend.
The Great Gatsby
For newcomers who want Fitzgerald's social observation and lyrical style in a compact novel, Gatsby is a clear starting point. The controlled structure rewards rereading, though its emotional distance and morally compromised characters may resist easy attachment.
What it's about
Nick Carraway becomes drawn into the world of his wealthy Long Island neighbor Jay Gatsby, who hopes to reclaim a past romance with Daisy Buchanan. Lavish parties conceal obsession and unease as money, desire and loyalty bring their social circle into conflict.
Also recommended by
9 people
Taylor Swift recommended this bookTaylor Swift
"Taylor Swift's 'Delicate' video is full of parallels to [this book]." - Korey Lane
Taylor Swift's recommendation of this book 
Bill Gates recommended this bookBill Gates
"Melinda and I really like [this book]. When we were first dating, she had a green light that she would turn on when her office was empty and it made sense for me to come over." - Bill Gates
Bill Gates's recommendation of this book 
Neil deGrasse Tyson recommended this bookNeil deGrasse Tyson
"I can’t do that. I’m sorry. I’ll never be a novelist." - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson's recommendation of this book 
Daniel Pink recommended this bookDaniel Pink
"I’ve read [this book] at different points in my life." - Daniel Pink
Daniel Pink's recommendation of this book 
Ev Williams recommended this bookEv Williams
On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.
Ev Williams's recommendation of this book 
Ta-Nehisi Coates recommended this bookTa-Nehisi Coates
"I'm a sucker for efficiency. This book gets so much out of what is, ultimately, a rather slim story. I adore it." - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates's recommendation of this book +3
More recommendations
- Christopher Hitchens
"[The author] found he'd taken on all the great American themes, from the original 'dream' itself to the corresponding loss of innocence." - Christopher Hitchens
- Jim Carrey
"I've already lived out [this book] and still I beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - Jim Carrey
- Ryan Holiday
"I’ve read and re-read many times." - Ryan Holiday
- Christopher Hitchens
Tender Is the Night
For readers who want a longer, more psychologically involved portrait of marriage and decline, Tender Is the Night extends Fitzgerald's range. The emotional complexity rewards patience, though its shifting chronology and troubling psychiatrist-patient relationship make it demanding.
What it's about
Psychiatrist Dick Diver and his wife Nicole preside over a fashionable circle on the French Riviera. Actress Rosemary Hoyt's arrival complicates their marriage, exposing tensions between professional care, dependence, desire and the fragile life they have created together.
Also recommended by
1 person
Bob Iger recommended this bookBob Iger
Bob Iger told Variety this book was on his Reading List.
Bob Iger's recommendation of this book
The Beautiful and Damned
For readers interested in Fitzgerald's harsher treatment of entitlement and marriage, this novel dwells on the gap between expectation and effort. The sustained social criticism adds bite, though prolonged self-absorption and decline can feel deliberately wearing.
What it's about
Anthony Patch and his wife Gloria live in New York expecting an inheritance to support their fashionable pleasures. Drinking, idleness and disappointment strain their marriage as the future they have assumed will be theirs becomes increasingly uncertain.
Also recommended by
1 person- Taylor Swift recommended this book
Taylor Swift
"It’s something [the author] did so well, to describe a scene so gorgeously interwoven with rich emotional revelations, that you yourself have escaped from your own life for a moment." - Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift's recommendation of this book
This Side of Paradise
For readers curious about youthful ambition and Fitzgerald's beginnings, this debut offers a more unruly counterpart to Gatsby. The energetic exploration of identity has historical interest, though its episodic form and privileged social world can feel uneven.
What it's about
Amory Blaine grows from a privileged, self-absorbed boy into a Princeton student and aspiring writer. Romance, war and financial setbacks challenge his confidence, forcing him to reconsider the ambitions, social ideals and sense of identity that have shaped his life.
Flappers and Philosophers
For readers who want an early short-story collection with a defined shape, Flappers and Philosophers offers a manageable introduction. The range shows comedy alongside social observation, though the stories vary in weight and reflect their period's prejudices.
What it's about
Eight stories explore young love, social competition, ambition and the pressures of class. From Bernice's attempt to become popular to a Southern woman's encounter with the North, the collection presents characters whose desires collide with expectations and circumstance.
The Last Tycoon
For readers drawn to Hollywood and the tensions between art and business, Fitzgerald's final project offers a distinctive setting. The unfinished form reveals an evolving work, though it cannot provide the completion or balance of his finished novels.
What it's about
In Fitzgerald's unfinished Hollywood novel, producer Monroe Stahr becomes involved with a mysterious woman who recalls his lost wife. Their affair unfolds amid studio politics and the competing pressures of creative authority, business interests, and personal longing.
Tales of the Jazz Age
For readers who want an original collection that moves between social observation and fantasy, Tales of the Jazz Age displays Fitzgerald's tonal range. Its varied forms encourage sampling, though the mix is less unified than a single novel.
What it's about
Stories and short plays range from social satire to fantasy, including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Characters pursue romance, pleasure and wealth while confronting the absurdity and disappointment behind their dreams.
The Crack-Up
For readers interested in Fitzgerald's reflections on exhaustion and writing, this collection offers a different perspective from the fiction. The essays and correspondence provide personal context, though the assembled format is less continuous than a memoir.
What it's about
Personal essays and correspondence trace Fitzgerald's movement from literary success into exhaustion and despair, and his efforts to recover. Edited by Edmund Wilson, the collection also includes exchanges with fellow writers that illuminate his work, friendships and changing self-understanding.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
For readers who want a brief encounter with Fitzgerald's more fantastical side, Benjamin Button provides an accessible change from the novels. Its central conceit invites reflection on social expectations, though the compressed form leaves less room for psychological development.
What it's about
Benjamin Button is born with the appearance and habits of an elderly man, then grows younger as the years pass. His reversed aging confounds his family and society, complicating education, marriage and the ordinary expectations that organize a life.
The Short Stories
For readers who want a broad view of Fitzgerald's short fiction without collecting individual volumes, this selection offers substantial variety. Its scope supports comparison across his career, though it overlaps with separate collections and is best read selectively.
What it's about
This selection of forty-three stories spans Fitzgerald's short fiction, from early tales of youth and ambition to later accounts of disappointment. Pieces including May Day, The Rich Boy and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz show his varied subjects and forms.
Sources
- 1
10 of the Best F. Scott Fitzgerald Novels and Stories Everyone Should Read | Interesting Literature
interestingliterature.com
- 2
7 of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Books Ranked | Book Analysis
bookanalysis.com
- 3
10 Best F. Scott Fitzgerald Books (2025) - A Must Read!
ereads.com
- 4
The greatest books written by F. Scott Fitzgerald
thegreatestbooks.org
- 5
Books by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author of The Great Gatsby)
goodreads.com
- 6
Books by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Five Books Expert Recommendations
fivebooks.com
- 7
Do you like Fitzgerald?
reddit.com
- 8
F Scott Fitzgerald
fantasticfiction.com
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