11 Things You Don't Know About 'The Great Gatsby'

F. Scott Fitzgerald always wanted his novel "The Great Gatsby" to become a "consciously artistic achievement."

Today, it is just that.

His American classic is mandatory reading across English classrooms. There was a time, however, when no one wanted to read about Gatsby and his lost love, Daisy.

With Baz Luhrmann's anticipated film adaptation in theaters this month, we reread our copy of the book.

Our copy of the 182-page novel includes a 22-page introduction from publisher Charles Scribner III, which we took the time to read this time around.

It shares many details about the early drafts of Fitzgerald's novel, the lengthy process and pains with which he went through to produce it, including struggles to come up with a title, and the immediate failure of the book.

Some would say, "Gatsby" was simply ahead of its time.