West of Sunset
By Stewart O’Nan
(Viking Adult, Hardcover, 9780670785957, January 13, 2015, 304pp.)
The Short of It:
The glitter and sparkle of the Jazz Age is not present in this novel. Instead, we are given the gritty bits of a struggling F. Scott Fitzgerald as he tries to make it in Hollywood while, poor Zelda languishes away in a sanitarium.
The Rest of It:
The Great Gatsby is a novel that I love more and more as time passes, but I was not a fan of it when I first read it. Turns out, many did not care for Gatsby when it was first released. Written in 1925,the book did not sell well and was widely unpopular with many. Unable to match the success of his first novel, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald found himself if a bit of a predicament. Zelda, his wife, was losing her mind and living full-time in a sanitarium and his daughter, Scottie, was attending a rather expensive boarding school which frankly, he could not afford. To make ends meet, he moves to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter for MGM. West of Sunset is a fictionalized account of his life in Hollywood and his long-time affair with the gossip columnist Sheilah Graham.
I should tell you that this book has received very mixed reviews but I adored it. I knew little about Fitzgerald’s life in Hollywood and I found it all very fascinating to read about. Far from being a Golden Boy, he struggled to turn out quality work and many of his film projects were shelved but his daily interactions, his attempt to participate actively in an affair with Graham while taking care of his wife and daughter, wore him down quickly.
As in real life, the Fitzgerald we read about in West of Sunset is weak and chronically ill and being an alcoholic doesn’t help matters. Graham is constantly coming to his aid to nurse him back to health. The long weekends at the beach house, spent wiping his brow and tending to his every need. As a reader, you can’t help but wonder why a successful woman like Graham puts up with it, but love is a funny thing and although the falls from grace continue to plague them, she remains in his corner through all of it.
In between the long periods of illness, there is a lot of writing and lunches with Hollywood execs and interactions with big stars like Joan Crawford. The Hollywood that O’Nan writes about is the old Hollywood that’s we’ve all come to know. There is glamour, but not the type of glamour Fitzgerald participates in or contributes to. His world is colored by his need for drink which lends a darkness to an otherwise exciting time.
I found myself fascinated with all of it. After finishing the book, I wanted to re-read Gatsby or pick-up one of his other books. I am a big fan of O’Nan’s work and West of Sunset is no exception. Just know going in, that it’s not the glittery, feel-good book that you might expect from its cover.
Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Edelweiss.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
I never liked Fitzgerald so it’s hard for me to feel an interest for many of the zillions of books that seem to be coming out about him or his wife!
I think that would fascinate me as well.
Sounds like O’Nan captures this life and times well? I bet I would like this, too.
O’Nan is good at capturing anything, really. I know lots of people do not like Fitzgerald. He was kind of a weak guy, cheating on his wife and all but O’Nan manages to make him interesting if not likable. I mean, I couldn’t hate the guy. I felt sorry for him. Unable to control his addictions, weak heart, sick all of the time and still trying to put food on the table (and pay for Zelda’s medical bills and his daughter’s tuition).
________________________________
I honestly know very very little about this author and his life. I do think O’Nan is very talented – and I want to read more historical fiction.
I wonder at the cover choice given the darker side of old Hollywood here. Seems like there should be a cover with less glitz
I guess just the idea of Hollywood is glamorous to most folks. Tourists flock to Hollywood Blvd by the bus load and it’s the crappiest, most run down block in the city.
________________________________
Lovely review…I really want to read this!
I think you enjoyed this one more than I did. It was a very slow start for me, but O’Nan is a wonderful writer and I’m glad I stuck with it.
This sounds like a very interesting read. I’d love to get hold of it. A novel is it? An imagined scenario? Another book which is a biography detailing the actual event is Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, the editor who discovered and published F. S. Fitzgerald, and Hemingway. That book has been adapted into film starring Colin Firth as the genius editor.
In West of Sunset, the story is based on actual events but the author took liberty with the details. I looked it all up on Wikipedia and much of it happened as written. I think he mostly embellished on the parts about Hollywood.
________________________________
I think I might like this. At any rate, it’s made me want to pick up Gatsby again. I always did like that book.
Definitely time for some more O’Nan and this might just be the one. Especially since it hasn’t been that long since I read A Moveable Feast and The Paris Wife both of which have a fair amount of the Fitzgeralds in them.