The crack-up

F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1986

"The Crack-Up" was first published by New Directions in 1945 and is now being rediscovered by a new generation of readers. Compiled and edited by Edmund Wilson shortly after Fitzgerald's death, "The Crack-Up" tells the story of Fitzgerald's sudden descent at age thirty-nine from a life of success and glamor to one of emptiness and despair, and his determined recovery. This vigorous and revealing collection of essays and letters renders the tale of a man whose personality still charms us all and whose reckless gaiety and genious made him a living symbol and the Jazz Age. For those who grew up with "The Great Gatsby" or "Tender is the Night," this extraordinary autobiographical collection provides a unique personal blend of the romance and reality embodied by Fitzgerald's literature and his life.

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wahernAug 2026
> The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up[1], Esquire, February 1936
[1] https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a4310/the-crack-up (https://web.archive.org/web/20250328074803/https://www.esqui...)
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babblingfishOct 2025
I found free public versions for some of the essays in the compilation.
Show Mr. and Mrs. F. to Number—[1]
The Crack-Up[2]
[1] https://fitzgerald.narod.ru/zelda/shownumber.html
[2] https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/f-scott-fitzgerald-...
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queseraMar 2014
> Ouch, how can somebody hold two opposing thoughts in their head at once?
```
  The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold
  two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still
  retain the ability to function.

  - F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up", Esquire Magazine (February 1936)
```
Unfortunately, one of the ideas in this case is deeply offensive. Hopefully this is an opportunity to reexamine that idea with a more inclusive mind.
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lcedpOct 2013
> To Chesterfield, singular focus was not merely a practical way to structure one’s time; it was a mark of intelligence. “This steady and undissipated attention to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius [...] "
Sounds reasonable. But also consider:
> The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. - F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up", Esquire Magazine (February 1936)
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bobwaycottApr 2013
If you're interested, the quote comes from The Crack-Up, which "tells the story of Fitzgerald's sudden descent at age thirty-nine from a life of success and glamor to one of emptiness and despair, and his determined recovery."[1]
[1]: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16893.The_Crack_Up
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