Gatsby 100 Christmas Podcast (1 hr 5 mins)

In this special ‘Christmas Carol’ podcast, I explore a literary debate that feels more relevant than ever as the Catholic Church welcomes its first American Pope on the centenary of the book’s publication. It also comes at a time when faith in the ‘American Dream’ has never seemed so fragile.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is often read as the definitive tragedy of the Jazz Age, a story of secular ambition and failed romance. Yet this reading seems to miss the novel’s deepest, most fascinating subtext: its powerful and enduring dialogue with Fitzgerald’s Catholic roots. Challenging the claim that Fitzgerald simply repudiated his faith, this podcast argues that Gatsby may, in fact, be an eleventh-hour attempt to create a lasting “American sacrament” — a parable for modern times.

Does the novel function as a rejection of his Catholic faith, or act as a critical update —a battle for the soul of the church and the soul of America played out on the vast green lawns of West Egg?

The Monocled Mutineer goes in search of those ‘fundamental decencies that are parcelled out unequally at birth.’

Have a Merry Christmas and a totally ‘ORGASTIC’ New Year!