The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published on April 10, 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City during the summer of 1922 and is a critique of the American Dream. It is the story of the American dream, the loss of love, the longing and wanderlust that one feels after college, and, probably most prevalent, the hope that one may recreate the past. But beyond that Gatsby is now a style. Parties are set to Gatsby themes as men and women parade in 1920's outfits of style and elegance. Not many novels have a character that permeates into so many elements of American life, symbolizing both an era as well as an ideology that, at its very root, is fundamentally American, but Gatsby seems to embody both the hope and tragedy of Americans. Quite possibly the greatest american novel of all time.