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''Nick'' is a 2021 novel by American writer Michael Farris Smith. It is his sixth novel and was published on January 5, 2021 by
Smith first read '' The Great Gatsby'' as a high school student, but he did not fully understand it at the time. In 2014, after living in Europe, Smith reread the novel for the first time in several years. He came to identify with its narrator Nick Carraway and was drawn to Carraway's sense of detachment. He felt emotionally compelled to write a prequel novel, despite the "literary weight" of doing so and the inevitable public reaction. Smith wrote the novel in 2014 and 2015, and did not once take into consideration any potential copyright issues. He wrote it in secret, telling neither his agent nor his editor. In 2015, ten months after Smith began writing the novel, he sent in a completed manuscript. Smith was promptly informed that he would be required to wait until 2021 to publish it due to the original work's existing copyright. ''The Great Gatsby''s U.S.
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
. It is a prequel to F. Scott Fitzgerald's landmark 1925 novel '' The Great Gatsby''.
Synopsis
''Nick'' centers on the narrator of ''The Great Gatsby'',Nick Carraway
Nick Carraway is a fictional character and narrator in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel ''The Great Gatsby''.
Character biography
In his narration, Nick Carraway explains that he was born in the Middle West. The Carraway family owned a hardware ...
, in the years before the events of Fitzgerald's novel. It follows Nick Carraway as a soldier in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, his detours in Paris, and his time in New Orleans before his move up to Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
.
Background
Smith first read '' The Great Gatsby'' as a high school student, but he did not fully understand it at the time. In 2014, after living in Europe, Smith reread the novel for the first time in several years. He came to identify with its narrator Nick Carraway and was drawn to Carraway's sense of detachment. He felt emotionally compelled to write a prequel novel, despite the "literary weight" of doing so and the inevitable public reaction. Smith wrote the novel in 2014 and 2015, and did not once take into consideration any potential copyright issues. He wrote it in secret, telling neither his agent nor his editor. In 2015, ten months after Smith began writing the novel, he sent in a completed manuscript. Smith was promptly informed that he would be required to wait until 2021 to publish it due to the original work's existing copyright. ''The Great Gatsby''s U.S. copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
expired on January 1, 2021, when all works published in 1925 entered the public domain in the United States.
Reception
''Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' called ''Nick'' a "compelling character study." In his review for ''The New York Times'', Ben Fountain called it an "exemplary novel" with a "classic American sound" and praised Smith's unique rendering of Nick Carraway. ''Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' praised the "striking imagery" of the war chapters, but felt the novel ultimately did not provide any deeper understanding of Nick Carraway. The ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' agreed, criticizing the novel as devolving into a melodrama
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...
and reprocessing Nick Carraway rather than clarifying his character. Ron Charles of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' felt the novel failed to expand on the original story and criticized its second half for withdrawing Nick's perspective too far and leaving readers with "noir caricatures and their lurid spat."
References
{{Authority control 2021 American novels Works based on The Great Gatsby Prequel novels Novels based on novels American historical novels Little, Brown and Company books Novels set in Paris Novels set in New Orleans Novels set during World War I