This Side of Paradise was published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, on 26 March 1920, in a first printing of 3,000 copies priced at $1.75. Fitzgerald was twenty-three years old. The novel sold out in three days, went through twelve printings in its first year, made Fitzgerald the most talked-about young writer in America, and enabled him to marry Zelda Sayre, who had refused him while he was an unsuccessful advertising copywriter. It is the book that launched both Fitzgerald’s career and the Jazz Age as a cultural phenomenon.
The Novel
This Side of Paradise follows Amory Blaine, a handsome, self-conscious young man from the Midwest, through preparatory school at St. Regis (modelled on Fitzgerald’s own experience at the Newman School), Princeton University, an unhappy stint in the Army during the First World War, and a series of romantic disappointments in New York. The novel is autobiographical to a degree that borders on confession — Amory’s vanity, his literary ambitions, his romantic idealism, and his sense of himself as a figure of destiny are Fitzgerald’s own qualities, rendered without apology.
The novel’s form is deliberately experimental for 1920. Fitzgerald shifts between prose narrative, dramatic dialogue, and verse, incorporates mock-academic sections and catalogue lists, and structures the book as a Bildungsroman that is simultaneously a cultural document — a portrait of the first generation of American college students who defined themselves through jazz, cocktails, automobile rides, and a sexual frankness that scandalised their parents. The phrase “petting party,” which entered the language through this novel, was considered shocking.
Cultural Impact
The book’s impact was less literary than sociological. It told the story of a generation that had grown up during the war and found the pre-war moral code meaningless. Fitzgerald’s generation — the flappers, the bootleggers, the Ivy League aesthetes — recognised themselves in Amory Blaine and adopted the novel as their manifesto. Within months of publication, Fitzgerald and Zelda had become celebrities, living the life of extravagant parties and public romance that would become the template for Jazz Age glamour.
The literary merits of the novel have always been debated. Even Fitzgerald’s admirers acknowledge that it is uneven — sometimes brilliant in individual scenes, often overwritten, structurally disjointed, and occasionally embarrassingly immature. Hemingway dismissed it privately; Edmund Wilson, while championing Fitzgerald’s talent, called it “illiterate.” Its importance lies not in its craftsmanship but in its energy, its cultural timing, and its role as the announcement of a major talent.
Publication History and Points of Issue
First edition (1920, Scribner’s): 3,000 copies in the first printing, priced at $1.75.
Identification points:
- “Published March, 1920” on the copyright page with the Scribner’s seal
- No subsequent printing statements
- The dust jacket is dark green with gold lettering
The dust jacket is exceptionally scarce. The dark green paper shows wear prominently, and few copies survive in collector condition. Copies with intact, bright jackets are among the rarest Fitzgerald items.
First edition, first printing:
- Fine/Fine in dust jacket: $20,000–$50,000
- Near Fine in jacket: $10,000–$20,000
- Without jacket: $1,000–$3,000
- Later printings (with printing statements): $100–$500
Signed copies: Rare but not impossible. Fitzgerald signed copies of his debut with some enthusiasm in 1920–1921. Inscribed copies to significant figures command substantial premiums.
Value trajectory (2016–2026): Approximately 2× for fine copies in jacket. The novel’s status as Fitzgerald’s debut — always the most valuable title in an author’s bibliography — and the scarcity of the jacket sustain strong demand.
The small first printing (3,000 copies) and the fragile green jacket make This Side of Paradise an important collecting target. As Fitzgerald’s debut novel, it holds a special place in his bibliography and in the broader narrative of American literary modernism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Fitzgerald’s best novel? No — that distinction belongs to The Great Gatsby by critical consensus. But it is his most important debut and the book that made him famous.
Why is the first printing so small? Scribner’s was cautious about a first novel by an unknown author. The 3,000-copy run is modest even by 1920 standards, and the novel’s immediate success meant that subsequent printings appeared rapidly.
How can I distinguish the first printing from later 1920 printings? Later printings within 1920 can usually be identified by printing statements on the copyright page. The first printing has “Published March, 1920” without any additional printing information.