Gentleman’s Reader 5/1922
A day in the life of Jay Gatsby
New York‘s first address for breath-taking parties
You may have heard rumours about the mysterious Jay Gatsby or even attended one of his flattering parties. But do you know the man behind the glamorous façade? GR accompanied him for one day and got to know this man’s story.
It was a Saturday morning last month that I drove to West Egg on Long Island in New York as I had an appointment I had been waiting for since last summer.
When approaching the colossal mansion by its stunning gravel drive, I was amazed by the wealth this imitation of a Norman hotel expresses. Jay Gatsby had just returned from a ride on his brand new cream-coloured 1922 Silver Ghost Rolls-Royce. He smiled welcomingly and offered some breakfast to me. He approached the rear of his mansion showing me around the impressive gardens that had been designed by a French gardener one year ago, extending in the same dimension as St James’s Park in London. Offering me a seat in the exclusive pavilion surveying Long Island Sound, he sat down and asked his butler for some Hiedsieck 1907 Diamant Bleu cuvee and the warm breakfast to be dished up.
Afterwards, I asked him about his life and why he was still a bachelor though one of the most desired in the city. “Listen” , he said, “there is just one special women in my life, old sport, but she is, I think, not aware of me anymore.” He did not want to tell more on this precarious topic and thus I continued with some general questions. Gatsby, having been discharged honourably in the rank of a Major in the U.S. Army after World War I, said he inherited his fortune when his parents and all other relatives had died in the West. He lived in European cities for a while, residing in Venice, Paris and Oxford to name but a few.
Jay Gatsby enjoyed the education of a privileged young man, attending Oxford and ascending in the military. Later that day, he proudly showed me a medal of valour of the Kingdom of Montenegro, which he received for extraordinary services to Montenegro in the Great War.
At noon, he started to show me the colossal palace he called home. We started at the rear with the magnificent pool and the stunning view over the bay. When we got inside, I was impressed by the great halls he lived in. Truly, not throwing a party there would waste the building’s potential.
He introduced me to Klippspringer, an aspiring pianist, who uses to delight Gatsby by playing the most virtuosic piano concerts by the modern Russian-American composer Sergei Rachmaninov or Beethoven sonatas par excellence on Gatsby’s Steinway in the great hall.
Having had lunch, he showed me around his stalls and I was again dazzled by the enormous amounts of money that this luxurious vehicles must have cost. He owns a wide range of sports cars, including his Rolls coupé and a German Mercedes limousine. Mr Gatsby does clearly not need a chauffeur even though he uses one’s services occasionally. Gatsby is a dynamic young man who enjoys sporty adventures with friends, e.g. he goes out on the Sound with his hydroplane from time to time or simply enjoys the horsepower of his cars.
After the short tour of his house, we talked about dressing appropriately in the approaching summer. “It’s all about fabrics, old sport”, he said. “I slightly dislike these women’s things. Going shopping in the crowded city is not something I do really much appreciate. That’s why I prefer my clothes to be send to me. I have got a friend in Europe who sends packages of shirts of all different fabrics to me. Shirts of linen for the summer or of thick silk for the winter. Suits made of linen I of course order at my tailor in the US. He knows my measures and that’s why he will send me some suits every month and I am never disappointed by his service.” GR thinks Gatsby is one of the most promising candidates for this year’s Dressed Man award.
Besides his stunning style, he is well known for the parties. When asked, he is a little shy about these weekly events that attract guests from the city and further beyond to come to the inconspicuous West Egg. “Well, these parties are a little hobby. They are just some fun, old sport.”
It seems as if he is not as honest as he wants us to believe. “The parties were originally made to impress the person I love.” Who is this mysterious lady he wants to impress? He simply answered: “She is the most beautiful woman in the world, but she is my secret, old sport.” Asking further questions, seemed to be rather ridiculous.
The most important questions are yet to be answered. I confronted Gatsby with the rumours about his wealth. “Well, I already told you that my parents died when I was relatively young. I inherited a fortune, been in Oxford and made a career in the Army. I don’t see anything particularly illegal in that.” Certainly, there was no need to ask further questions even though Gatsby remains mysterious.
In the afternoon Gatsby showed me around his private part of the bay from which he can directly survey Manhasset Bay with the shiningly white marble mansions of East Egg. I asked him why he was not a resident of East Egg, the more fashionable of the two commuter towns whereupon he simply answered that he was not one of the East Eggers and that he wouldn't fit in there. What he meant might be uncertain but he had something else to show me.
Offering me some tea we went to the patio at the rear of his mansion. This part is architectonically probably the most interesting part of the building. The tower stretches 60ft in the sky and offers some amazing views.
After tea we bid goodbye, as Gatsby had an important meeting he could not postpone.
Gatsby remains one of the most mysterious members of New York’s high society but one of its most shining ones.
Mr Gatsby has been a very welcoming host and behaves like a true gentleman. He is the ideal person for the GR Dressed Man award, combining style, elegance and truly noble behaviour.
His parties, he confirms, are still going to be held in the next weeks.
GR, Finn Meinecke