Fitzgerald's second vel, The Beautiful and Damned provides a harrowing look at New York City's cafe society during the emergence of the Jazz Age. Experiencing this world through the eyes of Anthony Patch, a socialite in want of motivation, direction, and purpose, the reader is introduced to many of the social vices common to the 1920s and still common today. Addressing much of the elitism and decadence common to this period, this mediation on love and morality remains a chilling and provocative read.