18th
Craxworthy: Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda
I’ve been reading (and mentioning) this book for what seems like FOREVER (not in a bad way).
I’ve put it down and picked it up numerous times over the course of the last year, and it consistently alternates between awesome (in the awe-inspiring way) and heartbreaking (also not necessarily in the WORST way).
It’s a compilation of letters that Zelda wrote to Scott, with some exposition by the editors about what was going on during the periods of time that the letters collectively cover. It starts (obvs) with their early courtship, full of love letters and sweetness. I’ve gotten as far as the early-to-mid 1930’s, and I assume it ends in 1940 when Scott died.
If Scott’s letters to Zelda lasted, they went up in the fire in which she herself died, so there is a very very small number of telegrams from him included in the book, but I don’t know where they came from (not doubting their provenance, I just don’t know who had them or how they stuck around).
Bonus bit of awesome for music nerds: Eleanor Lanahan, the granddaughter who wrote the book’s introduction, is either mother or aunt to the awesome Blake from the Submarines (who are totally Craxworthy and will get their own entry later this year because my God, I’ve been in love with them since Chris Bowman interviewed them for The Sound of Young America in September of 2008).
Anyway, back to my point: love letters, literary genius, America’s first flapper, all 100% Craxworthy.
