Short Fiction Fitzgerald, F. Scott: Basil And Cleopatra. v1. 02 Jan 09

[Dr. Drib]

Another story in the Basil and Josephine series by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

For the curious, here's a breakdown of the series:

I. Basil
--That Kind of Party, 1951. (Princeton University Library Chronicle, Summer, 1951.)
--The Scandal Detectives, 1928. (The Saturday Evening Post, April 28, 1928.)
--A Night at the Fair, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1929.)
--The Freshest Boy, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1929.)
--He Thinks He's Wonderful, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1929.)
--The Captured Shadow, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1929.)
--The Perfect Life, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1929.)
--Forging Ahead, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1929.)
--Basil and Cleopatra, 1929. (The Saturday Evening Post, April 27, 1929.)

II. Josephine
--First Blood, 1930. (The Saturday Evening Post, April 5, 1930.)
--A Nice Quiet Place, 1931. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1931.)
--A Woman with a Past, 1931. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1931.)
--A Snobbish Story, 1931. (The Saturday Evening Post, 1931.)
--Emotional Bankruptcy, 1931. (The Saturday Evening Post, August 15, 1931.)


I found this information, which talks about both A Night At The Fair and Basil and Cleopatra:

"An example of this structuring comes in one of the more entertaining stories, "A Night at the Fair", addressing the early 20th century tradition of a boy's acquiring his first pair long pants (as opposed to a younger boy's knickers) as a symbol of growing up.

"On his first trip to the state fair with his buddies, Basil is embarrassed by his knickers, due to best friend Riply's recent promotion to a long-pantsed young man. His success with the young ladies cannot match Riply's, either. His distress grows throughout the week as the second big fair date approaches --this time with "dates"-- and the long pants his mother has promised have not yet arrived.

"Just in time, Basil gets his pants and the kids are back at the fair, smooching on the ferris wheel. Basil's new found confidence, in the form of an extra six inches of wool, is short-lived however. He quickly learns that Riply is not the best friend he thought he was, and that the "prize" girl's interest in him lies in the fact that he can introduce her to an older boy.

"In a sense, Basil has grown, in achieving his pants and a new found wisdom. At the same time, his wisdom affords him the knowledge that this was just another step along the way to "growing up", not the only one.
Each of the Basil stories provides a similar realization as an ending, until, by the final "Basil and Cleopatra", the protagonist has become a self-actualized young man."

Like all the books I assemble on MobileRead, this too was assembled to reflect human intervention and artistic judgment.

I hope you enjoy it.

Don

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