F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Vegetable; or, From President to Postman

Nicolas Tredell (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1923

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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The Vegetable: From President to postman,

Scott Fitzgerald's only stage play during his professional career, was a resounding theatrical flop. Published by Scribners on 27 April 1923 in a print run of 7,650 copies retailing at $1.50, it opened for a week's trial on 19 November 1923 at Nixon's Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey (Bruccoli (1991), 209, 219). The first night was a debacle, with, as Zelda Fitzgerald put it in a letter, “[p]eople so obviously bored” (qtd Bruccoli (1991), 219), and some audience members walking out during the second act. Fitzgerald himself, playing on the surname of the play's protagonist, called the production “a colossal frost […] After the second act I wanted to stop the show and say it was all a mistake but the actors struggled heroically…

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3522 words

Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Vegetable; or, From President to Postman". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 February 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8042, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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