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The Great Gatsby, a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, is widely considered a literary masterwork and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel. The story is set in the prosperous Long Island of 1922 and provides a critical social history of Prohibition-era America during the Jazz Age. The novel was inspired by Fitzgerald's youthful romance with socialite Ginevra King and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island's North Shore. Upon its publication, The Great Gatsby received generally favorable reviews, but some critics believed it did not equal Fitzgerald's previous efforts. When the author died in 1940, he believed himself to be a failure and his work forgotten.However, the novel experienced a revival in the mid-20th century, with renewed interest leading to its inclusion in the curricula of the majority of U.S. high schools. As of early 2020, The Great Gatsby had sold almost 30 million copies worldwide and had been translated into 42 different languages. The novel has been adapted into various forms, including stage plays, films, and even video games. Critical writings on The Great Gatsby often focus on Fitzgerald's disillusionment with the American Dream in the hedonistic Jazz Age. The novel's characters and themes continue to be the subject of analysis and debate among literary critics and scholars.