O’Nan on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s final days in Hollywood
Print Edition
AUTHOR Stewart O’Nan’s 15th novel, “West of Sunset,” follows writer F. Scott Fitzgerald through his final years in Hollywood, when fame and fortune had dwindled.
In the historical-fiction novel, Fitzgerald is making a tenuous living as a screenwriter in the years before his death from a heart attack at the age of 44. O’Nan talks about his research, writing and philosophy and his next project.
What drew you to Fitzgerald?
He was the most famous young author in the world, and then of course it all goes to hell, quickly. It mirrors the fortune of the country at that time.
Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are a perfect poster couple for a time, but I’m writing about what happens after Scott’s life goes to hell.
How does he retain his sensitivity to the world, that romantic view of the world?
How did you research this book?
My wife says I only write the books so I can do the research. ... The first step was getting his sensibility.
I reread all of (Fitzgerald’s) stuff, all the novels, all the stories, all the letters I could find.
The letters in the novel are made up, but I had tons of vocabulary and emotion to draw on.
That’s why I wouldn’t do a biography. I want to take it a little bit further and get a little closer to these people.
As John Cheever said, “All I want from reality is possibility.” I can do anything I want, provided I make it believable to the reader.
I can’t pull an “Inglorious Basterds” and have them kill Hitler.
Your next project is called “The Eternal City.”
It’s Jerusalem noir, set in Jerusalem in 1946, and culminates in the bombing of the King David Hotel.
I wanted to explore how did the survivors of the Holocaust become the terrorists that went on to blow up the British? How do you make that jump?
Q: Much of your work explores the unknown. What happened to the adage, “Write what you know?”
I say write what you’re curious about. I love the idea of trying to write the impossible book, the book that cannot be done. As a fiction writer, you’re allowed to do anything, as long as you dare it, and do it as well as you possibly can. And if it’s still no good, that’s OK.
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