The heir to his grandfather's considerable fortune, Anthony Patch is led
astray from the path to gainful employment by the temptations of the
1920s Jazz Age. His descent into dissolution and profligacy is
accelerated by his marriage to the attractive but turbulent Gloria, and
the couple soon discover the dangerous flip side of a life of glamour
and debauchery. Containing obvious parallels with F. Scott and Zelda
Fitzgerald's own lives, The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic examination
of the pitfalls of greed and materialism and the transience of youth and
beauty.