內容簡介
內容簡介 ●《大亨小傳》作家費茲傑羅，生前從未發表作品首度面世！ ●中文版與全球同步發行！●與海明威齊名，二十世紀美國最偉大作家！ 《我願為你而死》蒐集了費茲傑羅生前未出版的散佚短篇小說，由安．瑪格麗特．丹尼爾主編。費茲傑羅當初並沒有想把這些短篇小說編篡為一冊。大部分的短篇小說都在一九三○年代向各大雜誌投稿，雖然被接受了，卻沒有在費茲傑羅生前刊登。有些是電影腳本，寄給了電影製片廠或製作人，但也沒有拍成電影。另外有些故事賣不出去，因為主題或風格悖離了編輯所期待的費茲傑羅。這些篇章從費茲傑羅寫作生涯最早期到最末期都有。來源不一而足，從圖書館到私人收藏，也包括費茲傑羅家族的收藏。讀者會發覺，費茲傑羅寫的是有爭議性的主題，例如〈向露西與愛兒喜致敬〉這類的故事，他描繪的年輕男女比一般年輕男女說更多話、想得更深，而且毫無忌憚。這本小說集的同名故事〈我願為你而死〉，取材自費茲傑羅住在北卡羅萊納山區的經驗，當時他自己以及妻子賽爾妲的健康都越來越差。但費茲傑羅不願被當時的編輯牽著鼻子走，寧可不出版作品，即便在他急缺錢、急缺評論家注意之時。本集的副題是「其他散佚的故事」，因為有些故事直到現在才考證出來。十八篇故事裡，有的稿子不見了，直到前幾年才出現。在某種層面上，可以說全部都散失了：在費茲傑羅艱困的晚期生活中丟失了；因為當時的編輯不了解或是不接受他的用意，而使讀者無緣一讀。《我願為你而死》同時也反映了葛楚德．史坦因的名言「迷失的一代」中的懷舊與輓歌氣氛，而費茲傑羅就是那個年代引領風騷的人物。費茲傑羅以獨特的美麗、犀利、驚人語言探索既熟悉又新鮮的主題，這些故事讓我們得以更深刻地了解，費茲傑羅不妥協的筆耕生涯。《我願為你而死》揭露了費茲傑羅內心的創作過程，證明了他是走在現代文學前端的作家，無論現代文學的發展有多麼複雜多變。 THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER** I'd Die for You is a collection of the last remaining unpublished short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, iconic author of The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night. All eighteen short fictions collected here were lost in one sense or another: physically lost, coming to light only recently; lost in the turbulence of Fitzgerald's later life; lost to readers because his editors sometimes did not understand what he was trying to write. These fascinating stories offer a new insight into the arc of Fitzgerald's career, and demonstrate his stylistic agility and imaginative power as a writer at the forefront of Modern literature. Praise for I'd Die for You: `Superbly edited and annotated, this richly fascinating miscellany is a marvellous reminder of what was lost when, at forty-four, a coronary killed Fitzgerald' Sunday Times `Forward-thinking for their time . . . Fitzgerald was a master of short story writing' The Times `This much-vaunted collection of stories . . . is a ragtag bundle of surprises, curios, irrelevancies and delights . . . We can marvel at the strength of his imagination, his display of elegance and precision' Sunday Telegraph `Readers will find much to enjoy in this gorgeously produced book' New York Times `A beguiling meditation on the dark side of wealth and the American dream' Independent
