beautiful fools. r. clifton spargo. (118)

after reading "z", i discovered a handful of novels dedicated to zelda fitzgerald have been published recently (i am assuming) to run on the coat tails of baz lurhman's "the great gatsby" release.  and of course, adoring zelda as i do, decided to read all of them.  the second one i chose was "beautiful fools" by r. clifton spargo.

"beautiful fools" as it said on the cover is about the last of affair of zelda and f. scott fitzgerald.  as i learned in "zelda", the fitzgeralds took a trip to cuba  (after zelda did not go on the institution's cuba trip),and  though they did not know it at the time, it would be their last trip together.  this novel is a fictional tale about that trip, though the complexity of their relationship was based on truth.  and of course the title, is from "the great gatsby", words scott took from zelda's lips at scottie's birth and put them on daisy's lips.  and though it was zelda's wish for scottie to be a beautiful fool, it's safe to say that both zelda and scott were beautiful fools so the title is appropriate.

the trip to cuba is disastrous from the start.  zelda saw it as an opportunity to save their marriage by proving she was well, while scott used it as a means to escape his life in hollywood and his mistress.  spargo created a handful of incidents that exasperated their already strained relationship.  scott meets some shady characters and puts zelda and him in some sticky situations, i won't spoil it but lets just say there is a barroom brawl and some cockfightings. but zelda does create a handful of awkward situations herself, including a trip to a clairvoyant.  however, regardless of the events that occur, scott and zelda would have had a troubling time regardless due to their relationship woe.

as i discussed in the post for "z", fowler discussed how people are divided into camp zelda or camp scott, however, spargo did an excellent job in "beautiful fools" of demonstrating how scott and zelda were both guilty of ruining their marriage.  as i read i was frustrated with zelda's neediness and erratic behavior and scott's drinking and money-wasting.  they were both on self-destruct mode.  as wonderful as they started off in their youth, they both had an equal hand in their demise.  which again reminded me of my very own zelda-scott relationship, i once had a disastrous trip to mexico with the same friend i talked about in the "zelda" post.  just like scott and zelda, drinking added a lot of drama to our trip. after the trip, we both spent time convincing ourself the other was responsible for the drama that occurred but looking back, we really were both to blame.  oddly enough, we did manage to scrape our trip together by putting aside our differences.  and even though i though it was the end of our friendship, it survived it.  (though only for a year or so after).  but even with all of its drama, i can look back at the trip and not be bitter and recognize it as experience that occurred at no fault of anyone but just the way life went.

the trip ends with zelda (though thought of as fragile because of her condition) taking charge and taking care of scott and the mess he gets them in.  and i guess that is what i admired about the fitzgeralds in this story. they were not perfect but they managed because they truly loved each other.  as scott in the novel said, "she was the only thing he truly loved in the world but his love was twisted and wounded  and he could never again make it a simple, straightforward thing."  and that is what happens with love sometimes, it gets injured but does not seize to exist.  and at our lowest points that love will be strong enough to help us endure.

i enjoyed "beautiful fools" more than "z" because spargo is the better writer.  while fowler's zelda felt forced, spargo's zelda was as colorful as i assumed the real one would be based on all i have read so far.  my only critique is that i got tired of all the war and fascist talk but i mean those topics were probably on the tips of everyone tongues during that time.  but all in all, a novel, i would assume scott and zelda would not be ashamed to appear in.

z: a novel of zelda fitzgerald. therese anne fowler. (113)

of course with the release of the latest film version of "the great gatsby", there would be a resurgence of interest in the fitzgeralds.  so when i heard about "z" by therese anne fowler, a novel about zelda fitzgerald, i had to check it out!

my interest in the fitzgeralds came via woody allen's "midnight in paris". the fitzgeralds especially zelda with her "lets go i am bored" demands were a delight.  and of course, all the myths about their partying intrigued me.  as a result, i read his novels (except the last tycoon) and hers plus a handful of their short stories.  and as a result of that read their wikipedia page to find out what was true in their books and it seemed like their novels were pretty autobiographical.  though intrigued by their life, i never picked up a bio or a book of their letters.  but i wish i had.

if i had read a bio, i would not have spent the whole novel thinking, did this really happen? i mean i know it is a novel but i hadn't realized zelda had called off their engagement though "this side of paradise" alludes to that.  i also didn't realize that the housekeeper from "the beautiful and the damned" was real.  also the squirrel coat really existed too!  or that the actress from "tender is the night" was based on lois moran, i knew the novel's affair was based on a real affair but didn't realize it was based on an actual actress that young (i had to google her, and she will only be famous for her literary counterpart).  i wanted to read nancy milford's bio of zelda which has been sitting on my bookshelf but since "z" is due back at the library on thursday didn't think i had the time.  oh well, this has sparked my need to read that, reread "save me the waltz" and another novel called "beautiful fools" about scott's last affair.

so back to "z", though interesting, i will admit that at times i did get a bit bored.  i mean i got it, scott was an alcoholic and as a result was a horrible husband.  in an afterword, fowler discussed how there are two camps "team scott" or "team zelda" when it comes to who was the victim in their destructive relationship.  i have always been team zelda, i mean, have you read a "tender is the night" and "save me the waltz"?!?! both novels discuss the same period in their life and i read scott as the destructive one.  sure nicole and alabama were instituationlized but its known some women were instituationlized for having "crazy" thought of independence and rejecting the cult of domesticity versus actual

illness.  

this point of view of zelda's bouts in mental institutions was interested and i appreciated fowler's presentation of it as such.  as i read about z's (i'll use z for the character in the book and zelda for the real zelda) time in institutions it demonstrated how she was not crazy but just rejected the traditional female roles society forced upon her.  she didn't want to stay at home and live a life of leisure.  she wanted to participate in the social sphere.  in addition to that,  she wanted to be seen as an individual from her husband.  and what did scott expect? the very spirit and personality he fell in love with was the same one he tried to mute later in life.  and plus with all the alcohol involved plus the partying its no surprised they had issues (see:  my life 2007-10).  also it was sad to see how writing was good therapy for z but she was not allowed to do it.  

in the afterword, fowler also mentioned zelda was probably misdiagnosed and today would be diagnosed as bipolar.  also her meds harmed her more than help.  though i think it was the time period that was against her versus any mental illness, it reminded me of the book "girl interrupted", these women were not crazy only had too progressive thoughts for the time period. z's "illness" was really just an unwillingness to conform to female gender roles.

though i did appreciate fowler's painting of z's institutionalization, there were some things i could have done without.  one being all the hemingway nonsense. i get that hemingway and zelda hated each other but that scene when hem made a pass at z was way too graphic for my liking.  z had her outlandish moments but that seemed really out of character.   also i did not enjoy all the fairy talk.  i know cole porter was questationable (i did see "de-lovely" and fairy or not he is one of my favorite songwriters) but did people really question ernest and scott's relationship?!?  and then the scene with scott's moaning?  i think that was all done in poor taste.

[author's note:  so i just finished reading in nancy milford's biography,"zelda", that the moaning incident did occur.  and there was talk of hemingway and fitzgerald being faires!]

and my last critique is that fowler's "z" wasn't as colorful as the real zelda.  zelda's works are always filled with clever little lines and musings but there wasn't too much of that in "z".  i mean fowler tried but didn't succeed.  also i got tried of z interrupting awkward moments with a comment about dancing.  though i guess she was the epitome of the flapper girl.

all in all, glad i read it since it sparked a new interest in the fitzgeralds.  but left me wondering what really went on.  and as a result,  i plan on reading alot more about f. scott and zelda.

ps i totally forgot.  so the book is divided into parts and have an epigraph.  all of them were quite delightful:

always be drunk:

thought this quite clever since scott was a wordsmith:

and of course how great was the dedication page: