FITZGERALD, F. Scott.

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Typed letter signed ("Scott" in pencil), to Gilbert Seldes in New York. A substantial letter written seven weeks after the publication of Tender Is the Night, in which Fitzgerald discusses the novel's conflicting reviews and thanks Seldes for his support. He also considers Ring Lardner's posthumous collection First and Last and proposes a theatrical programme combining comedy and horror.Of Tender Is the Night, published on 12 April, Fitzgerald writes: "My novel seems to go pretty well." Yet he admits: "I haven't been able to make up my mind entirely how good it is", citing reviewers who praise the novel's technical construction and others who condemn it. "No two reviewers - and I am speaking only of the big shots - agree who was the leading character." He singles out Malcolm Cowley's review in the New Republic, which concentrates on a character who appears only once, and concludes: "my total impression is that a whole lot of people just skimmed through the book for the story and it simply cannot be read that way." Nevertheless, Seldes's favourable review in the New York Evening Journal and Mabel Dodge Luhan's enthusiasm "made it all worthwhile to me". Although the novel reached the best-seller lists in April and May, its sales fell short of Fitzgerald's expectations.Fitzgerald begins by discussing First and Last, the posthumous Lardner collection prefaced by Seldes. He had hoped for a larger selection but acknowledges that many of Lardner's syndicated articles were already da

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