Set in the year after the 1929 crash and incorporating many autobiographical elements, ‘Babylon Revisited’ tells the story of the widower Charlie Wales, a reformed alcoholic and successful businessman returning to Paris to convince his in-laws to give him back the daughter he abandoned. As the old haunts of the city he used to carouse in seem more and more alien to him, he finds himself assailed by feelings of guilt and regret.
Considered one of Fitzgerald’s finest and most poignant pieces of short fiction, ‘Babylon Revisited’ is presented here with a selection of other tales published in the same period, such as ‘Crazy Sunday’ – an account of alcoholism and infidelity in Hollywood – which showcase the author at his creative best.