Gatsby@100 Chapter 6 featuring Richard Russo

Richard Russo is the author of ten novels, three collections of short stories, and two books of non-fiction. His most recent book is his 2023 novel Somebody’s Fool. Life and Art, a collection of his essays, will be published in May 2025. His 2001 novel Empire Falls won the Pulitzer Prize and his story “Horseman” was included in the 2007 volume of The Best American Short Stories. 

In 2017 he received France’s Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine; and in 2018 he received the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature. He wrote the teleplay for the HBO adaptation of Empire Falls; and he has written or co-written the screenplays for several films. His 1997 novel Straight Man was adapted into the 2023 TV series Lucky Hank. 

As the reignited affair between Gatsby and Daisy sparks rumors in West Egg, chapter 6 of Gatsby finds narrator Nick Carraway revealing to readers the origin story of Long Island's mysterious millionaire. Tension mounts when Tom Buchanan shows up to Gatsby's mansion one day. Tom and Daisy subsequently attend one of Gatsby's parties, and the man who has dedicated the last five years of his life to winning Daisy back doubts whether he can recapture her. The chapter ends with one of the most beautiful passages in American literature that captures both Fitzgerald's and Gatsby's gossamer romanticism.