Every man, per James Truslow Adams’ The Epic of America, deserved a life that was “better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” While some viewed this as wishful thinking, many adopted the view that all it took was a little perseverance and hard work…

I grew up writing. So did a lot of other people. I’m not saying I’m special, because I grew up writing, I’m just saying that’s how I grew up.

At my babysitter’s house, I would practice writing the alphabet on large chart paper. Tedious. Did this teach me the alphabet, or did it teach me tracing and imitation? There were lines, curves, and circles. It wasn’t art. I had no patience…

In Fall of ’21, Fitzgerald wrote an essay for Brentano’s Book Chat titled “What I Think And Feel At 25.” 19 years later, he would die at the ripe, old age of 44 from a heart attack, “the poor son-of-a-bitch.” His essay starts with two encounters in which he openly expresses vulnerability and a desire to discuss its effects on life, but the uninterested parties, a few years his senior, leave…