FRANCIS SCOTT KEY FITZGERALD (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, short story and screenwriter. He was best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularized. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four collections of short stories, and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death, and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. he wrote numerous stories for popular magazines. His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), which is now widely praised, with some labeling it the “Great American Novel”. He completed his final novel, Tender Is the Night (1934).