Trimalchio (novel)
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This article is about the novel Trimalchio. For the character Trimalchio, see Trimalchio.
Trimalchio: An Early Version of The Great Gatsby is a published complete early draft of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The original title of The Great Gatsby was "Trimalchio in West Egg." The Great Gatsby contains a reference to Trimalchio in the introduction to Chapter 7:
It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night--and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
A notable difference between Trimalchio and The Great Gatsby is a less complete failure of Gatsby's dream in Trimalchio. In Trimalchio, the argument between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby is much more even, although Tom still wins in that Daisy returns to him.
