Upper School history teacher Rob Kyff will speak at the West Hartford Public Library on Tuesday, April 8 at 6:30 – 7:45 p.m., on about everyone’s favorite literary gadabout, Jay Gatsby to mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. Kyff also penned a book on the subject, Gatsby’s Secrets: The Hidden Motifs, Moments and Metaphors That Shape Fitzgerald’s Masterpiece. He’ll discuss the often-overlooked memes, motifs, and metaphors that enrich and shape the meaning of the novel.

Kyff will describe how Fitzgerald weaves thematic elements as disparate as water, vision, ghosts, numbers, and stars into the fabric of the novel’s meaning; how secondary characters such as Jordan Baker, Myrtle Wilson and Blocks Biloxi parallel the main characters, contributing essential perspectives and comic relief; and how Fitzgerald chooses words precisely to craft the exquisite, rhapsodic passages that have been called “touchstones of American prose.” 

Kyff said that some KO students served as copyeditors of his manuscript to ensure quality control. Books will be available to purchase on Amazon shortly. 

Tickets are free but you must register using this link: