Epilogue

Abstract

Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald both engaged with various elements of the mass media during the Depression in order to influence public responses to their work. Over the course of the decade, Stein attempted to construct a theoretical framework that would simultaneously explain and dictate the proper way to approach a modern work of art. These theories, which were often equivocal about her own promotional activities, finally paved the way for her to return to the supposedly subliterary genre of the memoir. Fitzgerald, through a handful of autobiographical meditations and publicity pieces, cultivated the image of a serious literary professional in order to distance himself from an outmoded earlier persona. His efforts culminated in the “Crack-Up” essays, a series of pieces that adopted a cynical attitude, but, when viewed outside the confines of contemporary biographical narratives, potentially promoted a similar image of the author.