This Side of Paradise

F. Scott Fitzgerald's precursor to the book that made him immortal, This Side of Paradise is a sort of "younger version" of The Great Gatsby. Through its protagonist Amory Blaine, it explores the culture of contemporary American youth—and all its ambivalence and easy going-ness—during the Roaring Twenties.

It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to draw parallels between Amory Blaine's own vision of his future and those of a typical American twenty-something of today, nearly 100 years after the book's publication. But perhaps the most memorable takeaway from the book is its accurate portrayal of a conflict that persists today: social conservatives (the "moral guard") and social progressives.