My+Beautiful+Little+Fool's+First+ABCs

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We all know that Daisy has a little daughter who she loves very much, but also that her expectation of this little girl is that she will grow up to be a fool. Well, how do you raise a "beautiful little fool" in such an era of sin, scandal and excess? That is where the idea for "My Beautiful Little Fool's First ABCs" came about. I wanted to show Daisy's world, and the future world of her daughter, in a simple way. By no means is "B is for Bootleggers" appropriate for a toddler, but it was the world that this little girl would have faced. I compiled photos, videos and quotes from __The Great Gatsby__ to go along with each of the 26 letters. I tried to be as accurate to the date as possible (1922 and before), but also reflect a little of Daisy's own perceptions in the book. I tried to make it as personal and as real to Daisy's experiences as possible. For example, a modern reader might put Myrtle and Gatsby's death under M is for "Murder" but Daisy has it under U for "Ugly Business."

~Thea Berthoff

Reference:
 * Mankoff, Robert ed. __The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker.__ New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2004
 * "The Eight." Chicago Historical Society Online. Last updated 1999. Accessed 1/23/2009. 
 * Thomas, Pauline Weston and Guy Thomas. "1920s Flappers." Fashion-Era. Last updated 2008. Accessed 1/23/2009. <[|http://www.fashion-] era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm>