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In some ways, this 1931 short story is the antithesis of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby of 1925. One of the saddest aspects of Gatsby concerns Daisy and Tom's daughter, Pammy. Or rather, lack of concern: she’s mentioned once, I think. She's largely irrelevant to them and to the tragic story.

This is set just after the Gatsby glamour of the Jazz Age and the subsequent Wall Street crash. At first it seems to be an American in Paris, revisiting the sites of Babylonian excess and reminiscing about obscene extravagance and endless partying.
��It was nice while it lasted�� We were a sort of royalty, almost infallible, with a sort of magic around us.��
He’s mourning everything he’s lost - not just money �� and clearly sees the city has changed, as have the people he thought he knew so well.

That is certainly the context, but the story is about the heartfelt desire to do the best for one’s child, of trying to fix past mistakes and the damage they inflicted, of showing love and understanding rather than showering with gifts, and of overcoming obstacles to forge a new life in a positive way.

There’s plenty about guilt, blame, addiction, jealousy, greed, grief, revenge, reform, trust, and forgiveness.
But really, it’s about a little girl and her father. What is best for her?

��The present was the thing.��
Charlie comes to understand that means the here and now, not another gift. However, his realisation doesn’t mean the best outcome is clear or certain. Ambiguity is increased because those with power know less than the reader does. Brilliant.
Gatsby is a tragedy; Babylon might not be.


Image: Fitzgerald with his daughter. ()

Quotes

�� “It was not an American bar any more - he felt polite in it, and not as if he owned it.��

�� “Now at least you [an American] can go into a store without their assuming you're a millionaire. We've suffered like everybody, but on the whole it's a good deal pleasanter.��

�� “Outside, the fire-red, gas-blue, ghost-green signs shone smokily through the tranquil rain. It was late afternoon and the streets were in movement; the bistros gleamed.��

�� “It had been given, even the most wildly squandered sum, as an offering to destiny that he might not remember the things most worth remembering.��

�� “‘I heard that you lost a lot in the crash.��
‘I did,�� and he added grimly, ‘but I lost everything I wanted in the boom.’��

See also

�� George Gershwin’s innovatively evocative orchestral piece, An American in Paris, premiered three years before this story was published. See Wikipedia and listen to a version of the piece (c20 mins).

�� The Great Gatsby, which I reviewed HERE.

�� Significant aspects are autobiographical. See .

�� In this, Honoria is nine. Fitzgerald wrote a letter to his 11-year old daughter, titled “Things to Worry About��, but with a much longer list of things not to worry about. Read it .

Short story club

I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.

You can read this story .

You can join the group here.