The Great Gatsby is generally considered to be the finest novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Written in an easy style, without complex literary experiment, at the height of the authors maturity, it is now an undisputed classic of American literature and is one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. The novel brilliantly brings out Fitzgeralds central theme of the dark surrounding the brightest light, the shallowness of many human friendships, and the eerie silence as the syncopated rhythm of the jazz fades. It brilliantly captures both the disillusion of post-war America and the moral failure of a society obsessed with wealth and status. The novel tells the story of the mysterious Jay Gatsby, an army lieutenant, who lives in a luxurious mansion on the affluent Long Island shore. His lavish parties for the glitterati of the day had become legendary on the island. Yet amid the throng of guests, starlets and champagne waiters, their host appeared oddly aloof. The parties were to impress only one person, that is, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby had a brief affair with Daisy before the war and her marriage to Tom.