Gatsby's secret(s)

Back in June 2021, we discussed F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (That was back when we were reading non-LGBTQ books once a quarter or so.)

As some of you are no doubt aware, the novel celebrates its centennial this year. With that in mind, I offer the following observation from our friend Ted Coltman: "I’ve long thought that Gatsby was Jewish, but it hadn’t occurred to me that another reading might see him as black passing as white, as the author does in this piece."

To celebrate the novel's centennial, here is a tour d'horizon courtesy of the New York Times: "It's Gatsby's World. We Just Live In It."

And for those of you interested in possible gay subtexts for the novel, here is my original 2021 post on the topic:

"Last week, 14 of us gathered online for a lively discussion of The Great Gatsby. By coincidence (?), just two days later Ron Charles used his weekly Washington Post Book Club newsletter to highlight several new books that riff on Fitzgerald's classic, now that it has entered the public domain.

"First up, published back in January [2021], is Michael Farris Smith's Nick, a prequel that imagines Carraway's ordeal in World War I and then follows him to New Orleans. Hot off the press is The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, in which Jordan Baker, a queer Vietnamese orphan in this version, narrates what is now a gothic fantasy. As Ron Charles says in his review: "The partygoers drink demon blood, sorcery twists the beams of reality, and Jay Gatsby is a bisexual vampire. Finally, the story makes sense!"

"If that isn't wild enough for you, then how about this final tidbit from Charles? "Nineteen students at the University of Iowa have reportedly sold their adaptation of the novel to Independent Pictures and Fugitive Films. Gilded in Ash, the product of a creative English course last fall, reimagines Gatsby as an African American woman who works as an art forger. No word yet on whether the studio will actually make the movie, but as Nick says, 'Reserving judgment is a matter of infinite hope.'"