How was The Great Gatsby received upon its initial publication?

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby was not a commercial success upon its initial publication in 1925. It received mixed reviews, and its first printing sold slowly. It gained popularity among U.S. soldiers during World War II, and in the 1950s it began to be featured as a standard text of high-school curricula in the United States. It is now considered a classic of American literature, appreciated for Fitzgerald’s lyrical language and the story’s continued relevance regarding the pursuit of the American Dream.