蜜柚直播

The answer, of course, is 鈥渘o.鈥�

Daisy is one of the most mysterious characters in all of literature, almost completely unknown despite her pivotal role in 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� 鈥� the most talked-about, argued-about, book-clubbed-about book of our generation.

She is the love of Gatsby鈥檚 life. The story revolves around her, but author F. Scott Fitzgerald seldom lets her speak. Even the descriptions of her are vague. Who was she, and what became of her after Gatsby鈥檚 body was found on the bottom of his pool?

We are about to find out, because 蜜柚直播 author Jillian Cantor will re-introduce us in 鈥淏eautiful Little Fools,鈥� scheduled for release by HarperCollins on Jan. 4.

Cantor may be 蜜柚直播鈥檚 favorite author 鈥� her books and her appearances sell out quickly here 鈥� and her many readers may have a hard time waiting 鈥榯il January.

In 鈥淏eautiful Little Fools,鈥� Cantor invites Daisy, Jordan Baker and Myrtle Wilson to tell the Gatsby story from the women鈥檚 point of view.

Cantor is known for her historical novels featuring 20th-Century women, but this one comes with a twist. Instead of featuring real people, it introduces us to women who lived only on the pages of a book.

That said, the project evolved the same way Cantor鈥檚 others did.

鈥淚 will be reading or watching television and just bump into people who sound interesting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 still thinking about them a week or two later, I鈥檒l begin to wonder if there鈥檚 a book there. It鈥檚 not something I jump into. This is someone I鈥檓 going two spend two years of my life with. It鈥檚 important I like them.鈥�

In this case, she was intrigued by complexities of being a strong, intelligent woman in an era dominated by misogynistic men. To learn more about Daisy, Cantor carefully mined Fitzgerald鈥檚 novel twice. She read dozens of reviews and lectures. She also bought lots of popcorn. Gatsby has inspired six full-length movies, most memorably the blockbusters starring Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cantor watched them all.

鈥淗onestly, I thought the best was the 2000 version that was made for TV,鈥� she said. 鈥淧aul Rudd played Nick Carraway. That was my favorite, but all of the Gatsby films brought different perspectives to the story.鈥�

By the end of 2019, Cantor had written 50 pages and her agent was talking to publishers.

鈥淗arperCollins agreed to buy the book right before the lockdown,鈥� Cantor recalled. 鈥淲ith everything else going on last spring, I suddenly had a deadline. I had three months to finish the book. It was pretty hectic there for a while.鈥�

鈥淏eautiful Little Fools鈥� is Cantor鈥檚 11th novel, all written since moving to 蜜柚直播 as a graduate student in 2000. For a time, she tried to write while teaching 鈥� she was an adjunct professor of English at Pima Community College and the UA 鈥� but in 2011 she quit her day jobs to focus on her career as an author.

Cantor is drawn to ordinary women who do extraordinary things, especially if those things slipped beneath the radar of history.

Her next novel, 鈥淭he Hours Count,鈥� focused on Ethel Rosenberg. In 鈥淗alf Life,鈥� we met Marie Currie.

Her personal bestseller, 鈥淭he Lost Letter,鈥� used fictional characters to portray real people. The story was inspired by Nazi resistance fighter Sophie Scholl and a Polish engraver who helped her during World War II.

Daisy Buchanan鈥檚 challenges were far different than Scholl鈥檚, but it would be a mistake to underestimate her.

This is evidenced by the title of Cantor鈥檚 book. 鈥淏eautiful little fools,鈥� is actually a line from Daisy in the novel, reflecting her view that men of her era did not value intelligent women 鈥� instead preferring 鈥渂eautiful little fools.鈥�

It will be interesting to see how Cantor turns that phrase in her novel, and she isn鈥檛 about the spoil the surprise.

鈥淟et鈥檚 just say Daisy has a lot more going on than Nick Carraway ever imagined,鈥� Cantor suggested. 鈥淗er view of the events in West Egg that summer is a lot different than the perspective Nick gave us in the book.鈥�

FOOTNOTES

The 蜜柚直播 Festival of Books will present author Tom Vitale as part of its Authors in Conversation series on Wednesday, Oct. 3. Vitale was Anthony Bourdain鈥檚 director and producer. His book is entitled 鈥淚n the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain.鈥� It will be a virtual session accessible on the festival鈥檚 website:

Author Luis Alberto Urrea will be back in town to take part in the 蜜柚直播 Humanities Festival October 14. His reading is scheduled for 7 p.m. in UA鈥檚 Health Sciences Innovation Building at 1670 E. Drachman St. The program will be streamed lived on the Poetry Center鈥檚 website:

鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� has become an American classic, but it was a bust when published in 1925. Fewer than 20,000 copies were sold. Fitzgerald considered himself a failure when he died in 1940.