Pat Hobby, Esq.

“Pat Hobby, Esquire” is a collection of 17 stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in Esquire magazine from January 1940 to May 1941. Pat Hobby is an unsuccessful screenwriter in Hollywood. Once he managed to succeed as “a good company man” in the era of silent films, but now he has turned into an alcoholic who wanders around the studio. In most of the stories, he is broke, and he gets involved in one scam or another for money or for participation in the film festival he desperately wants—but his antics usually lead to unpleasant consequences and end in further humiliation.
Based on his own writing experience in Hollywood, Fitzgerald depicts Pat Hobby with mocking humor and nostalgia.