For any Fitzgerald fan it's a must read. F Scott was surely talented, but so was his amazing wife. Knowing their real life story so well, this read echoes much of it, but with a change of character names. I very much enjoyed it and was sad at the end.

I think that Zelda Fitzgerald wrote this book as a reaction to F Scott Fitzgerald using their lives and anecdotes as a basis for many of his books. She was a frustrated ballerina and made her protagonist become the star of a ballet troupe in Naples, Italy, where she was asked to join, but was not allowed to accept, by her husband. I felt the book was well written and her explanation of various horrible things that aspirating ballerinas endure was enlightening. It also illuminated her spiral into mental illness, and the sad decay of their marriage, as she got further and further obsessed about being a ballerina.

"Save Me The Waltz" is a difficult book to read; however, it is easy to see that it is the product of a disturbed mind. Zelda's writing is overblown, her descriptions merge factual and fictitious items in single sentences, she is rambling and, at times, jarring. But, it is proves, in the later parts of the book, how Scott Fitzgerald's continual belittling of her attempts as a writer, as well as demanding that anything she wrote had to be published under both their names or, his alone, frustrated an already fragile artistic temperament into driving itself into depressive and manic collapse. The only truly readable part, as a novel, is when Zelda writes of her time as a dancer-in-training for the ballet; that and the death of her father. There she is on solid ground and writes well and cogently.

For anyone who collects, or who has collected the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and/or biographies of same, "Save Me The Waltz" is a good addition to that library, as a completion piece, because it is Zelda's work. However, for a much better biography of Zelda herself, I suggest Nancy Milford's wonderful book "Zelda", which goes into the depths and detail of Zelda's life and tragic death.

C. R. Melcher

Author

I would like to first state that I am by no means a literary giant. I do think however that those who feel they are well educated in the field may overlook the talent displayed in this novel simply because it doesn't fit the cast of a "well polished and paced" Scott Fitzgerald work. In fact, I do believe that Zelda is all too often unfairly and with much bias compared to her husband. This story is a fairly easy and captivating read (yes, you do need a firm grasp of the English language and have a head to think through simile and metaphor) and the descriptive tangents that an English professor may find detracting and pointless are in fact what make this book such an interesting work. Some of these sections can be read over multiple times, an impetus for pulling images out of thought and time. I think to a fault in this day and age people want their imagination to be spoon fed...don't make me think too much for myself! It seems to me that anyone who would find this novel boring, distracting and/or pointless is probably more interested in being a literary critic than admitting that it is a very good story written in a very extravagant style by the wife of an early American classic novelist.

Anyone that enjoys Scott, needs to read Zelda. I cannot go to Asheville without staying in the old Grove Park Inn. I always walk down to Scott's room in the old section above the grand lobby. Though Zelda stayed at the mental hospital a few miles away Scott stayed at the Grove Park Inn. I think Asheville was a healing place for Zelda. I always think of Zelda when I am there. The Grove Park Inn was the perfect place to read, Save Me The Waltz". Now the two are inseparable, Asheville, and Zelda. I think she gathered what was left there, and found a complete person emerge. If you go to the GPI, sit in one of the rockers in front of a crackling fire at one of the massive stone fireplaces. Take along Zelda's book, it is the perfect read, for this perfect place.

It was okay but not one of the best

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald would've been an amazing writer with a fantastic career in our modern times. It would've made her husband insanely jealous and possibly sent him into Xanax and mescal but, such as possibilities. Zelda writes in intricate phrasing with vaguely Joycian moments. There were times I had to stop reading because her musings were so beautifully written. The book is a juicy read but ends rather unsatisfactorily for me. I felt that way when I read it 20 years ago and when I finished it recently. But still, it's a fascinating read with a barely hidden autobiography storyline.

Returned the book

Very hard old English to read and comprehend!

Ce livre n'est pas un chef d'oeuvre mais il est très intéressant de lire le point de vue de Zelda sur son couple avec le célèbre romancier Scott Fitzgerald. Lui, a décrit la vie de leur couple dans "Tender is the Night" et les deux livres sont intéressants à lire ensemble.

It is the kind of book that you either like it or you don't.

Zelda Fitzgerald's 'Save Me The Waltz' is full of metaphor and similes... too many. For me, this was not a smooth read, even though characters were fully developed, I couldn't go on with the book. Zelda was a highly intelligent person, I can see that coming through, but again (and I tried) the book couldn't keep my interest.

I agree with one of the other reviewers that she might, under favorable circumstances, have become a very singular and successful writer.

An evocative fictional novel that also gives profound insights into the real lives of its author and her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald. Although not as accomplished as her partner, Zelda Fitzgerald was clearly an impressive creative artist and this book deserves to be read by a wider audience. Although the present day myth making by Hollywood to ensure the forthcoming TV adaptations of Zelda's life receive good viewing figures is both irritating and worrying in their attempts to re-write history and pander to the worst excesses of strident and misguided feminist revisionism in order to make a buck!

Parts of this book are incredibly difficult to understsnd. Msybr she was only sane when she was dancing. And therefore maybe the novel only comes together shen she has a purpose in life? Bits of it are very well written and readable. But quote a struggle and it bcomes a bit wierd agsin at the end. not a book I would. Hoose to read.