This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Amory Blaine, a privileged and ambitious young man, seeks meaning through love, intellectualism, and social climbing in the wake of World War I. The plot charts his romantic failures, philosophical awakenings, and gradual loss of youthful illusions. Through poetic dialogue and experimental structure, Fitzgerald captures a generation’s restlessness and cynicism. As Amory matures, he must confront his own emptiness and forge a personal identity. It’s a vibrant, searching debut novel about youth, ego, and the postwar world.