The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

This classic American novel is the story of Jay Gatsby, that fabulously wealthy Long Island party giver, as related by his less affluent neighbor Nick Carraway. Written in 1925 at the height of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby expertly captures the 1920s and all its excesses. 
As Nick Carraway begins this intriguing tale wherein wealth and gayety mask underlying tragedy, Gatsby is presented as an enigmatic character. No one really seems to know who Gatsby is or where he obtained his fortune. Because of that knowledge vacuum, multiple myths concerning the man circulate, growing more fantastic with each telling. 
But ultimately, Nick and the reader learn that Gatsby is a mere mortal whose inner life is a less than satisfying one and whose moment in the sun is destined to be short-lived. Much like (as we now know) the Jazz Age itself. 
Highly recommended.