I have never read a book quite like this. It was written in 1922 supposedly, yet feels unbelievably modern. It's funny and sardonic and heartbreaking and very very real. The way Fitzgerald observes his world, in such ripely vivid and specific detail, with little overly portentious and self-aware "symbolism" makes it seem like you could reach out and touch it. Fitzgerald's flair for capturing people, both in their best and worst selves, his uncanny self-knowledge, his ability to understand and beautifully elucidate the problems of his group, while caught so inexplicably and fatally in their grasp is incredible. Anthony and Gloria are true originals, although I believe they are highly based on Scott and his wife Zelda. One of the things I really liked about this book is that it lacks the polish and spareness of Gatsby although that is one of my favourite books too. The characters are really allowed to breath in this novel and if the plot is rambling at times, it is nonetheless compulsively readable.
The amazing thing about this book is that Anthony and Gloria should, on the surface be completely unsympathetic characters. They are rich, trust fund kids who are excellent at partying and spending money and terrible at the practicalities of making money and unprepared for the practical business of being adults. Yet their Fitzgerald never looks down his nose or laughs at them and even through what might seem like inexcusable behaviour I never lost my attachment for either character.
Some of these reviews I've read here condemn Fitzgerald for moralizing with this book, that the whole message of it is "to do something with your life." Yet I don't think that's it at all. Basically in the book we have two characters who are deeply in love with each other and formed partly by their innate natures and partly by the way they were raised to be unsuited to the business of work and practical life. Yes, the characters are at fault, but Fitzgerald subtly indicates that part of the fault is American society itself, with its ridiculous military traditions, elevation of banality to a high art (the inspid "Heart Talks" pamphlets) and the hypocracsy of the great "moral reformer" who would cut his only heir out of his will for drinking. Gloria is an amazing character, a marvel of specificity and close observation. I love her because she is quite unappolagetically herself. A woman who as wretched as she may be at times is perfectly comfortable in her own skin and feels no need to bend to the "proper female image" of her time. While she is selfish and cruel at times, there isn't a malicious thing about her. If they are both snobs, well they freely admit it. The only thing I dislike is the ending, which I find doesn't quite do the complex Anthony justice and is not really realistic in terms of the character's mental health. Fitzgerald reveals his own flawed soul on the page with such honesty. Never before have I read of a relationship that felt so real to me, that is reflected on with such honesty and generosity of spirit. Fitzgerald was truly a master of his art and I am only sorry he was underappreciated in his time.

I've probably read The Beautiful and Damned ten or more times--it is a very compelling story, although it also contains many annoying flaws. It, as others have stated, is somewhat verbose and seems as though it was not edited as heavily with Maxwell Perkins (as Gatsby later was.) The third person omniscient narrator is somewhat preachy--and obstructs much of the action, but there are passages of absolute brilliant, clear description of self-destruction and living in the moment. The narrative is almost bone-crushingly linear, as Gloria and Anthony fling themselves toward their inevitable, terrible fate. They "achieve" their notion of the American dream, in the end, but at a terrible cost to them both...

The topic and the structure of this book is echoed amazingly in Hubert Selby Jr.'s Requiem for a Dream. The characters in that book also lose sight of the reality of their lives in their desperate pursuit of their "dreams." It would be interesting to know if Selby might have been inspired by this Fitzgerald novel. It certainly reads as if he did.