Hear ‘The Great Gatsby,’ every word of it, in Thursday read-aloud marathon in St. Paul

There’s also a Fitzgerald exhibit at the Minnesota History Center.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 8, 2025 at 11:00AM
F. Scott Fitzgerald in the late 1920s, from "Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald," by Matthew J. Bruccoli, published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1981.

Never read “The Great Gatsby”? Got 6½ hours free? Then, are you in luck.

As part of its yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, Friends of the St. Paul Public Library has put together a reading of “The Great Gatsby” in its entirety, from “In my younger” to “into the past.” It’s at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, starting at 1 p.m. April 10, 100 years to the day since the publication of the novel about careless young people in the 1920s.

The free reading — which is expected to conclude with Fitzgerald’s peerless final line about “boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” at around 7:30 p.m. — can be accompanied by a look at Fitzgerald memorabilia from the center’s collection.

“Great Gatsby” readers are scheduled to include writers Greil Marcus and Nicole Kronzer, St. Paul City Council Member Rebecca Noecker and St. Paul Public Library Director Maureen Hartman, in addition to library staffers and community members.

Other upcoming events planned by the Friends include walking tours of the neighborhoods that St. Paul native Fitzgerald frequented, performances and a “Gatsby at 100″ exhibit at Minneapolis Institute of Art.

about the writer

about the writer

Chris Hewitt

Critic / Editor

Interim books editor Chris Hewitt previously worked at the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, where he wrote about movies and theater.

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