2 JUNE 1923, Page 19

Tales of the Jazz Age. By F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Collins.

7s. Od.) Of the stories, fantasies and " unclassified masterpieces " (as the author facetiously terms them) contained in this volume the most considerable derive from 0. Henry. They catch something of his colour and movement, but not his deftness or his brevity ; their developments are unexpected but fail to surprise. They show American life in its most irresponsible and least Puritanical aspect. Romantic and heady, they owe their atmosphere to champagne or substitutes for champagne. When, through illness or poverty or Pro- hibition, Mr. Fitzgerald's characters have to forgo this indulgence his outlook (as in The Lees of Happiness) becomes very grey indeed.