![theatlantic:
How F. Scott Fitzgerald Responded to Hate Mail
F. Scott Fitzgerald—literary legend, master of the muse, star of early book ads, and one amazing dad—was born 116 years ago today.
In 1920, shortly after the publication of his debut novel, This Side of Paradise, he received a piece of “hate mail” criticizing the book as an affront to the respectable members of society, particularly those in power. This was Fitzgerald’s feisty, brilliant response:
Dear Bob:
Your letter riled me to such an extent that I’m answering immediatly. Who are all these ‘real people’ who ‘create business and politics’? and of whose approval I should be so covetous? Do you mean grafters who keep sugar in their ware houses so that people have to go without or the cheap-jacks who by bribery and high-school sentiment manage to controll elections.
Read the rest of Fitzgerald’s letter. [Image: AP]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mavfxdqikJ1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
How F. Scott Fitzgerald Responded to Hate Mail
F. Scott Fitzgerald—literary legend, master of the muse, star of early book ads, and one amazing dad—was born 116 years ago today.
In 1920, shortly after the publication of his debut novel, This Side of Paradise, he received a piece of “hate mail” criticizing the book as an affront to the respectable members of society, particularly those in power. This was Fitzgerald’s feisty, brilliant response:
Dear Bob:
Your letter riled me to such an extent that I’m answering immediatly. Who are all these ‘real people’ who ‘create business and politics’? and of whose approval I should be so covetous? Do you mean grafters who keep sugar in their ware houses so that people have to go without or the cheap-jacks who by bribery and high-school sentiment manage to controll elections.
Read the rest of Fitzgerald’s letter. [Image: AP]
