| "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald | |
 The cover of The Saturday Evening Post (May 1, 1920) containing "Bernice Bobs Her Hair". The issue marked the first time Fitzgerald's name appeared on the cover. | |
 Text available at Wikisource | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The Saturday Evening Post Flappers and Philosophers |
| Publication type | Magazine Short Story Collection |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | May 1, 1920[1] (as short story) September 10, 1920 (in collection) |
"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.[1] It was first published in May 1920 in The Saturday Evening Post.[2][3] It was Fitzgerald's first short story to achieve national prominence.[4] The original publication featured interior illustrations by May Wilson Preston.[5] The work later appeared in the September 1920 short story collection Flappers and Philosophers published by Charles Scribner's Sons.[6][7]
Fitzgerald's short story follows the plight of a mixed-race Native American girl named Bernice from rural Eau Claire, Wisconsin, who visits her beautiful and sophisticated white cousin Marjorie in the city, presumably Saint Paul, Minnesota.[8] In an attempt to be popular, Bernice announces she will bob her hair, but this announcement leads to unforeseen consequences.[8]
Several decades after its publication, critic Orville Prescott of The New York Times hailed Fitzgerald's short story in 1951 as a landmark in American literature "that set social standards for a generation of young Americans, that revealed secrets of popularity and gave wonderful examples of what to say at a dinner table or on the dance floor."[9]
- ^ a b Fitzgerald 1920.
- ^ Fitzgerald 1920, pp. 14–15, 159, 163.
- ^ Bruccoli 2002, pp. 63, 107–108.
- ^ Tate 2007, p. 137.
- ^ Fitzgerald 1920, p. 14.
- ^ Tredell 2011, p. 175.
- ^ Hischak 2012, p. 23.
- ^ a b Notea 2018, p. 20.
- ^ Prescott 1951.