The Complete Pat Hobby Stories: 17 short stories about a hack screenwriter in Hollywood (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Hollywood Studio Satire of a Washed-Up ScreenwriterBy F. Scott Fitzgerald
Length5h 50m
About this audiobook
Collected here, the seventeen Pat Hobby stories form Fitzgerald's mordant late-career anatomy of Hollywood, seen through the bleary eyes of a washed-up screenwriter clinging to the margins of the studio system. Written with comic precision and an undertow of melancholy, the stories transform hackwork, drunken improvisation, and professional humiliation into a sharp satire of American cultural production. Their episodic structure and clipped magazine style reflect both the demands of popular publication and the fragmented realities of Depression-era film work. F. Scott Fitzgerald, already famous for The Great Gatsby and his chronicles of the Jazz Age, wrote these stories near the end of his life while struggling financially and personally in California. His own experiences as a contract writer in Hollywood—where literary prestige often counted for less than speed, adaptability, and obedience—clearly inform Pat Hobby's failures. Yet Fitzgerald's self-knowledge gives the portrait unusual poignancy: Hobby is ridiculous, but also a distorted mirror of artistic dispossession. This collection is recommended for readers interested in Fitzgerald beyond his canonical novels, as well as for students of Hollywood history, modernist satire, and authorship under commercial pressure. It is funny, bitter, and unexpectedly humane.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.8 (2.9K)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon, StoryGraph
GenreGeneral Fiction, Humor
Length5 hrs 50 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 20, 2013
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Complete Pat Hobby Stories: 17 short stories about a hack screenwriter in Hollywood (Annotated)
14The Homes of the Stars.
2Introduction
15Pat Hobby Does His Bit.
3Author Biography
16Pat Hobby’s Preview.
4Historical Context
17No Harm Trying.
5Synopsis (Selection)
18A Patriotic Short.
Show all chaptersShow less
6The Pat Hobby Stories.
19On the Trail of Pat Hobby.
7Pat Hobby’s Christmas Wish.
20Fun in an Artist’s Studio.
8A Man in the Way.
21Two Old-Timers.
9“Boil Some Water—Lots of It”.
22Mightier Than the Sword.
10Teamed with Genius.
23Pat Hobby’s College Days.
11Pat Hobby and Orson Welles.
24Analysis
12Pat Hobby’s Secret.
25Reflection
13Pat Hobby, Putative Father.
26Memorable Quotes
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