Presumption

"The inner sense of his own destiny which had never deserted him whispered that he was going to be a rich man. But at the end of that year an event took place which made him think that it didn't matter after all."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald, Presumption (1926)
Presumption (1926) by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published in The Saturday Evening Post at the height of the author's magazine fiction writing time period. In this short story, Fitzgerald writes of the awkwardness of the main character San Juan Chandler and his attempts to woo the more sophisticated Noel Garneau. These characters mimic Fitzgerald's personal life with his wife, Zelda, and his attempts to break into the world of the rich and privileged. A romance for all ages and time periods, these are characters for which Fitzgerald is famous.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, known as F. Scott Fitzgerald, was an American writer renowned for his works that epitomized the Jazz Age, a term he coined. Born on September 24, 1896, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald became one of the most prominent novelists of the early 20th century. He attended Princeton University, where his writing career began to take shape. His most famous work, The Great Gatsby, is often cited as one of the great American novels, capturing the disillusionment of the American Dream during the Roaring Twenties. His personal life was marked by his tumultuous marriage to Zelda Sayre, whom he married in 1920, and the couple's extravagant lifestyle served as a backdrop for many of his works. Fitzgerald's writing is deeply influenced by figures such as Edith Wharton and John Keats. Despite early success, his later years were marred by financial instability, alcohol dependence, and personal struggles. He passed away on December 21, 1940, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 44, leaving behind a legacy as one of America's most celebrated literary figures.