George Zuckerman

Zuckerman’s novel is a very thinly fictionalized account of the life of Zelda Fitzgerald. Our stand-in is Rannah Gedney O’Donnell who narrates the four “battles” in the war of her life. Due to Rannah’s “madness,” she is an unreliable narrator throughout who tends to talk in riddles and metaphors, even when describing the “sane” parts of her life. The language is also very indicative of the time, place, and setting of her tale, which is mostly New York in the Roaring 20’s and then a mental health institution, which she refers to as her “gilded prison.” Major themes include the nature of genius and how to love a writer as well as alcoholism and “schizophrenia.” (In quotes because in the 1930’s –and even the 1960’s when this was written—the definition of the term was very different than what it is today.)
I had a difficult time with this book in the beginning, but once I caught the rhythm and cadence of it and began to unravel some of the more pervasive metaphors I ended up enjoying it much more. A person more familiar with the era, as well as the major players may find even more enjoyment because there is a lot of name dropping done, and although I was aware of some of the real people in the book, I think there were probably more that I just assumed were fictional because I’d never heard of them.
Recommended particularly for fans of The Bell Jar and the works of Virginia Woolf.… (mehr)