Doomed.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby has seen several different interpretations, the most recent of which is Baz Luhrmann's frantic, visually overwhelming film opening in theaters tomorrow. But each version has one thing in common: a tragic love story between Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan -- one that mirrored the difficult relationship between Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda.

Like Daisy, Zelda was the quintessential flapper, and initially rejected the man she loved for financial reasons. Unlike Daisy, Zelda ended up married to her Gatsby -- but the Fitzgeralds' love story didn't end much happier than F. Scott's novel.

In 1939, 14 years after The Great Gatsby's first edition was published, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald tried one last time to save their failing marriage with a trip to Havana, Cuba. That disastrous trip is the basis of author R. Clifton Spargo's Beautiful Fools: The Last Affair of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald.

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- The Great Gatsby, With DiCaprio and Maguire: Great but Not Always Good

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Courtesy of Mark Okun

We've got a pretty interesting mixed bag of characters in this town. You name it, you can find it down here, from Cuban Canadians to Mexican Ukrainians and every amalgamation in between. So it would make sense that Mark Okun, author of A Short Jew in the Body of a Tall W.A.S.P. (A Gay Melodrama in 13 Acts), would be right at home doing a reading in Miami Beach, where he's been visiting his hairdressing clients for decades.

The book follows Mark's life, from growing up as the gay adopted son of Jewish parents in New York state to finding his calling as a stylist in his adolescent years, to mad nights and misadventures fueled by cocaine, acid, and his own personal exuberance. His narrative is constantly close to the bone, from being HIV positive, to finding sobriety, and eventually meeting his birth family on national television. It's a harrowing journey and a story that will fascinate and surprise you.

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Forget everything you think you know about the history of our sunny state -- 'cause it's all a bunch of bullsh*t. What lies beneath the pristine beaches, sweeping mansions, and roller coasters is a whole lot darker. That's the premise behind former journalist and author TD Allman's new book, Finding Florida.

"It is the first objective history of Florida. Every other one, you can go look at them, they're either all propaganda for racism or to come down for the sun -- everything's wonderful here. I just tell the truth about Florida. It's a fascinating story," Allman says.

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- Will Orlando Push Miami Out as Florida's Most Economically Important Metro Area?
- 2012 In Weird Florida Crime and Drugs: Part Three of the WTF Florida Awards

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Richard Blanco is tired. Sitting in the lobby of the Adrienne Arsht Center's Ziff Ballet Opera House, where he'll take the stage tomorrow in a free reading, he apologizes for his gravelly voice, strained after a long day of media appearances and interviews like this one.

"I'm starting to feel a little bit weary, doing this, doing that," he laughs. "Following my mother's example, I'm just one of those people who can't say no. So I'm starting to learn that I can't be in three places at one time, stuff I never really had to negotiate."

It's an overwhelming feeling that most poets don't get to experience, he admits. But then again, most poets don't get hand-selected by the White House. Most poets don't share their stages with Beyoncé. Most poets don't get to read their work in front of an entire nation. Richard Blanco is not most poets.

See also:
- Miami Poet Richard Blanco Chosen as the 2013 Inaugural Poet for President Obama

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Wikipedia

For Twi-hards everywhere, there's only one deity worth worshiping, and she's a brown-haired, Mormon mother of three from Hartford, Connecticut. We're speaking, of course, of Stephanie Meyer, New York Times bestselling author and instigator of the biggest mass psychosis since the re-election of George W. Bush.

Meyer, unarguably one of the world's most famous writers, is making an appearance at Books & Books in Coral Gables on Tuesday, February 19. And for members of Team Edward and Team Jacob, she'll be signing copies of her books and making tween dreams come true.

Twi-hards we are not. But we do have ten pressing questions for the woman who single-handedly hijacked pop culture for the past four years (at least). So for those who plan to brave the fandom, we've put together a handy list of things to say to the wordsmith herself.

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- Author Nancy Rommelmann Reading at Panther Coffee Tonight
- Seven Local Authors at Miami Book Fair International You Should Know

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photo via dymaxicon

Author Nancy Rommelmann

If you're like most of the population these days, your attention span has probably dwindled down to nothing. Between tweets, status updates, and all kinds of little flashing messages popping up on T.V., you can barely take in a whole movie--let alone a book.

Well, if you're trying to restore some of that long-lost brainpower, or just want to get out of the house, author Nancy Rommelmann will be reading from her new book, Transportation, tonight at Panther Coffee.

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- Biscayne Books: Finally, a Bookstore In the Neighborhood, And Book Groups, Too
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A monster corporation edging out a locally owned business -- it's a tale as old as You've Got Mail. (Hey, remember when AOL was culturally relevant?) Coconut Grove's quaint cafe/bookseller, Bookstore in the Grove, is the latest to face this modern fate.

Luckily, the iconic local spot isn't closing entirely, just relocating. But the store is being bumped to make room for office space. Isn't it already hard enough for a brick and mortar bookstore to make it in the age of Amazon and Nook?

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- Best Place to Get Free Wi-Fi - The Bookstore in the Grove
- Get a Date with the Yuppy Club at the Bookstore in the Grove

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courtesy Vanity Fair

Christopher Hitchens as he came into the world

Next month will mark one year since the death of journalist, polemicist and bon vivant Christopher Hitchens. Though the loss of the Hitch has been hard for his legion fans who fed lustily on his dispatches from around the world, few could have felt it more deeply than his best friend Martin Amis and his widow, Carol Blue. On Saturday at the Miami Book Fair International, they were joined by Hitchens' editor at Twelve Books, Cary Goldstein, to lead a joyful remembrance of Hitchens's life and work.

Amis, who was also at the fair with his latest novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England, led off with a story about Hitchens tangling with some well-dressed "upper class hippies" as the two attempted to enjoy dinner in 1975.

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- Junot Diaz on Writing Men, Stories as Art, and Star Wars
- Naomi Wolfe's Vagina is All Up In Your Ladybusiness

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Nina Subin

The biggest name at this year's Miami Book Fair International is the white-suited New Journalism legend Tom Wolfe. His mammoth new novel, Back to Blood, purports to paint Miami in all its sexy, tribal, orgiastic glory.

But the book with the most insight into the Magic City is actually a slender volume by Dominican-American phenom Junot Díaz.

Díaz will speak on Monday night at Miami Dade's Wolfson Campus. But first he spent half an hour talking to New Times about sex, love, art, and Han Solo.

See also:
- Junot Diaz is a National Book Award Finalist
- Junot Diaz at Books and Books: Best. Book Reading. Ever.

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Author/sexpot Jenny Han.

Reading is sexy. Books too. And authors. (Swoon.)

The Miami Book Fair International (MBFI) is around the corner and we have been diligently researching MBFI's sexiest offerings -- both on the page and off.

See also:
- A Geek's Guide to Miami Book Fair International

There's a noted rocker, true and sensuous tales of poets and artists and their muses, some Game of Thrones inspired erotica to stimulate your, ahem, mind during the eight day event, and more.

Let's take a look at MBFI's sexiest offerings this year:
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