The ''Basil and Josephine Stories'' is a collection of two separate short stories collections (one about Basil Duke Lee, the other about Josephine Perry) by

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

which initially ran serially in ''The Saturday Evening Post''. Some of them were later collected in ''

Taps at Reveille ''Taps at Reveille'' (1935) is a collection of 18 short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was the fourth and final collection of short stories Fitzgerald published in his lifetime. All were timed to appear a few months to a year after each o ...

'' and posthumous short story collections. The title characters were intended by Fitzgerald to meet each other, but this never happened in his literature. In various correspondences Fitzgerald expressed admiration for the Lee stories, based on a young man's life in the Midwest. Josephine is a sultry character who is presented as a headstrong woman. Some critics have theorized she is based on Ginevra King, the celebrated Chicago debutante who was Fitzgerald's "first love".

Stories

The Basil stories detail the emotional growth of a character named Basil Lee who starts as a young man living in the Midwest and ends up, by the age of 17, ready to enter the world of Yale. Throughout the stories he is unaware of his potential until the moment he is about to lose it. Josephine Perry is described as a "Chicago Girl" whose family has a prominent role in society. This allows her to make decisions without fear of consequences. For example, when she is expelled from school she is reinstated because of her father's influence. Unlike other rebellious teenagers, such as

Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" , and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher In The Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He's most famous ...

, Josephine understands her academic problems will sort themselves out on their own. Both characters find true love is alluring but fleeting and both stories detail the evolution of each particular character's destiny, whether they like it or not.

History

Fitzgerald wrote these stories circa 1928, when he was bucking the pressure to write a sequel to ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

''. Toiling over ''

Tender is the Night ''Tender Is the Night'' is the fourth and final novel completed by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in French Riviera during the twilight of the Jazz Age, the 1934 novel chronicles the rise and fall of Dick Diver, a promising young p ...

'', he wrote these stories while reflecting on his youth in the Midwest. ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' published the bulk of both the Basil and Josephine stories providing Fitzgerald with an ample regular paycheck. He noted that the characters typified what he called "emotional bankruptcy"Fitzgerald's Josephine Stories: The End of the Romantic Illusion RS Elstein - ''American Literature'', 1979 and it was during this time he also wanted to claim a part of his past he once cherished, while resenting the nefarious influence of class distinctions and sell-outs in the world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basil and Josephine Stories Short story collections by F. Scott Fitzgerald 1973 short story collections