Amory Blaine, the main character of the novel, is a brilliant boy whose mother, even young in his life, was glamorously insane (no mention is made of any kind of concrete insanity, but she suffers frequently from “breakdowns”) and who teaches Amory to follow in her footsteps. He goes to prep school and eventually becomes a Princeton boy, all the while redefining himself in light of the people he encounters and, perhaps most especially, the books he reads. I know, I know, it sounds like your fairly typical coming of age story, and it quite possibly would be if it weren’t for the way that Fitzgerald tells the story. His word-work is fantastic. And although Amory experiences some things later in the novel (don’t worry, no spoilers here!) that change him a little more radically, he remains throughout the book the kind of boy that I wouldn’t mind meeting in real life! He may be arrogant, a little lazy, and hopelessly aristocratic, he’s still adorable! Overall, I’d have to say that the plot could have done with a little more beefing up, but that’s just kind of what Fitzgerald writes, from what I can tell, and Amory was wonderful enough that I’m not sure I really care all that much!