-
“A rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the
disintegration of an American legend.”
— Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author
-
“An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best
biographical novels to come along in years.
O’Nan’s great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the
character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his
descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood.”
— T. C. Boyle, New York Times bestselling author
-
“O’Nan—the king of the quotidian—has
changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American
master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life…An
amazing book.”
— Elizabeth Strout, New York Times bestselling author
-
“O’Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed.”
— Elle
-
“O’Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This
novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald’s troubled time in Hollywood (with
cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O’Nan’s
work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant
American writer meditating on another—what’s not to love?”
— O, The Oprah Magazine
-
“[A] beautifully written historical novel…which
follows Fitzgerald’s stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that
era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy
Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while
lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a
doomed romance that’s worthy of a classic film.”
— Entertainment Weekly
-
“[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald’s life is the subject of Stewart O’Nan’s gorgeous new novel, West of Sunset…West of Sunset is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it’s an even finer novel about a great writer’s determination to keep trying to do his best work.”
— Washington Post
-
“Mesmerizing and haunting…The strings O’Nan pulls so deftly are really the mark of a consummate pro, along the lines of Fitzgerald himself…lovingly and believably, the manner in which a writer works—thinks, processes, assimilates, envies—is given life.”
— Boston Globe
-
“Nan, in understated prose, renders a
heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of
personal and professional ruin…O’Nan’s convincing characterization of a man
burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a
moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at a
legend.”
— Booklist (starred review)
-
“O’Nan taps into primary-source material
on Fitzgerald to craft a realistic piece of historical fiction…Fitzgerald comes across as a haunting, multifaceted,
sympathetic character…The slide
into drugs, alcoholism, and the heart disease that shortened his life is
tragic to behold; Fitzgerald fans will mourn his loss all over again.”
— Library Journal
-
“O’Nan places Scott back at center stage, with a sympathetic portrayal of a troubled
genius, a kind but deeply flawed man trying to stay on the wagon while keeping
the peace between his unstable wife and their teenage daughter…O’Nan
has masterfully re-created the feel and ambience of the Hollywood studio system
in the late 1930s…An insightful glimpse into a sad period in
Fitzgerald’s life.”
— Kirkus Reviews
-
“I’ll direct my enthusiasm for West of Sunset to writers who revere Fitzgerald’s short story
‘Babylon Revisited.’ Stewart O’Nan captures Fitzgerald’s mood of spiritual
reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald’s voice. This book is an inoculation
against self-pity. It’s not a mock Fitzgerald novel but an original portrait of
a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. I don’t
doubt the biographical details, but it’s a waste of the book to check it
against fidelity to fact; if Fitzgerald wasn’t friendly with Humphrey Bogart
and Mayo Methot in 1939, he is now. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in
years and it deserves a cheering crowd.”
— Michael Tolkin, American filmmaker and novelist