Listened to as part of Craftlit podcast.

Bernice, a large and rich fish in a small pool is staying with her cousin in New York, and finds out that she is a small and rather boring fish in a large pool.

Her cousin Marjorie (after being overheard slanging her off after yet another disaterous party where men are bribed to dance with Bernice) tells her some home truths about what Bernice has to do to make herself popular - and it doesnt always involve her having lots of money or telling boys of what car she likes to drive best.

Bernice follows her cousin's advice about her conversation technique etc at parties, but invokes her wrath when she successfully (if untentionally) "steals" away Marjorie's best man Warren.

She is dared to "bob" her hair - by going into a barber's hair which turns into an "ugly as sin" cut. Little does she realise this was a trap set by Marjorie, the day before a significant and final party of the season.

Bernice realises that she's made a mistake, and that it was Marjorie's spiteful nature (and her own gullability) that got her into this situation. She decides that it's best if she leaves before the party, as she knows it would be impossible for her to recover. However, she decides there's a parting gift she can give to Marjorie.

Fitzgerald gives us a story where by everyone is shallow - both men and women, and women can be spiteful to each other especially where they feel threatened. Nobody really comes out well from this story, where everything is about appearance, and substance rarely comes into it. ( )

Bernice is pretty, but dowdy and serious. Her cousin Marjorie is frivolous and popular. F. Scott Fitzgerald takes all the glamour of the roaring 20s and turns it on its ear. The story is a delight and the ending is too satisfying!

A favorite quote:

At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.
( )

I wish I'd read this prior to The Great Gatsby because I think it would have propelled an interest in his other works that Gatsby just didn't imbibe. I just wasn't dazzled by the Gatsby-glitz and I find/found school reading lists pretty claustrophobic. However, I find myself loving this short story. There's a lot of growth in character for Bernice in a very short page-span, the prose pulling it off quite winningly. ( )