10 Greatest Unfinished Novels
2. The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
After the publication of Tender is the Night in 1934, F. Scott Fitzgerald struggled with his worsening alcoholism, his wife's deteriorating mental health, and other issues which might have ended other creative ambitions in some lives. And yet, after a gruelling experience in Hollywood, Fitzgerald managed to write about half of some of his finest prose for what ended up being his final, unfinished novel.
The Last Tycoon is one of the finest of that sub-genre of Hollywood novels (despite only being half done). Set in the 1930s, the novel tells the story of Monroe Stahr, based on 'the Boy Wonder' film producer Irving Thalberg. All the glitz and glamour of Golden Age Hollywood, and its dark underbelly, are here: what truly makes it the best book about Hollywood is how it conveys the magic of La La Land whilst never underplaying its cruelty.
Fitzgerald managed to get about halfway through when a heart attack cut him short of finishing what probably would have been his best book. Yet what we have remains magnificent and the notes accompanying let us know how the tale would dramatically come to an end.