Abstract
This article examines Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald’s “Friend Husband’s Latest,” her 2 April 1922 New York Tribune review of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned. The article focuses on three aspects of the review: (1) an apparent textual inconsistency with regard to Gloria Gilbert Patch’s birthday; (2) the literary acumen of the review itself, as it marks Zelda’s first mature publication and no critic has analyzed the review in the detail it deserves; and (3) Zelda’s now-famous quip, “Mr. Fitzgerald—I believe that is how he spells his name—seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home.” These three issues—a textual discrepancy, an authorial debut, and an alleged plagiarism—compel further investigation into this underappreciated and provocative text.
