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  • Gatsby as Gangster
  • Thomas H. Pauly
Thomas H. Pauly
University of Delaware

Notes

1. Herbert Asbury, "The Passing of the Gangster," American Mercury, 4 (1925), 358, 362.

2. William E. Leuchtenburg, The Perils of Prosperity (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1958), pp. 178-203, and Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity 1920-40 (Berkley: Univ. of California Press, 1985).

3. Henry Don Piper, F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Critical Portrait (New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1965), pp. 114-15.

4. John Kobler, Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (New York: Putnam, 1973), pp. 315-16.

5. This Fabulous Century: 1920-1930, Vol. 3 (New York: Time-Life, 1969), pp. 172-73 (includes photographs of Remus' mansion).

6. Kobler, p. 318. See also New York Times, May 17, 1924, p. 1.

7. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, ed. Andrew Turnbull (New York: Scribners, 1963), p. 551.

8. The Great Gatsby (New York: Scribners, 1925), pp. 84-85. Ensuing references are noted parenthetically in the text. Despite some minor factual errors, this account confirms Fitzgerald's extensive knowledge about Rothstein. For a thorough discussion of this episode see Leo Katcher, The Big Bankroll: The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein (New York: Harper, 1959), pp. 72-97.

9. Katcher, pp. 109-12.

10. Rothstein was approached during the planning, but refused to participate and therefore was not involved in the actual fix. However, he used his knowledge to profit handsomely in the betting. See Katcher, pp. 138-48.

11. Scholars have never tracked Fitzgerald's idea for the stolen bonds beyond his interest in the Fuller-McGee case. However, the main issue of this case was the fact that Fuller & Co. was a "bucket shop," a brokerage house that pocketed customer money without actually buying the intended securities. Bonds figured into this case only peripherally but sensationally, when it was revealed that Arnold Rothstein owed Fuller $187,000 and that liberty bonds worth $58,925 that he had posted as collateral were missing. See New York Times, January 26, 1923, p. 1.

12. Katcher, pp. 98-99, 170-79.

13. Matthew Bruccoli, "How Are You and the Family Old Sport—Gerlach and Gatsby," Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual, 1975, pp. 33-36.

14. Edmund Wilson, "The Crime in the Whistler Room" in This Room and This Gin and These Sandwiches (New York: New Republic, 1937), pp. 75-76.

15. Quoted in Arthur Mizener, The Far Side of Paradise: A Bibliography of F. Scott Fitzgerald (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1951), p. 171.

16. Craig Thompson and Allen Raymond, Gang Rule in New York (New York: Dial, 1940), pp. 53-55, 59. See also Katcher, pp. 41, 53, 106, 115, 166.

17. Katcher, pp. 166 and 301.

18. New York Times, October 20, 1920, p. 14.

19. As one of the few fronts whom Rothstein did employ, Dapper Dan Collins (Robert Tourbillon) offers some compelling reasons to suspect Nick's perception of Gatsby. Collins was a tall man whose striking good looks owed much to his well barbered, peroxide blonde hair. As a life-long con artist and legendary womanizer, Collins invested enormous care in his grooming and attire in order to deceive and exploit his victims. He actively preyed on women, robbing some of their money and turning others into prostitutes. In sharp contrast to Gatsby and his unselfish devotion to Daisy, Collins sought what he wanted from his prey. He was a particularly good front because he was so adept at exploiting those taken in by his attractiveness; Katcher, pp. 241-42.

20. Matthew J. Bruccoli, F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Descriptive Bibliography (Pittsburgh: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1987), p. 66.

21. Saturday Review (May 9, 1925), 740. See also New York Times, April 19, 1925, p. 9; Dial 79 (August 25, 1920), 163; and International Book Review (May 25, 1925), 426.

22. Nick's mediation in the reader's understanding of Gatsby has been the subject of numerous articles; see especially Scott Donaldson, "The Trouble with Nick," in Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, ed. Scott Donaldson (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984), pp. 131-39; Kent Cartwright, "Nick Carraway as an Unreliable Narrator," PLL, 20...

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