1. **It Wasn't Initially a Success** – When *The Great Gatsby* was published in 1925, it sold fewer than 20,000 copies, and F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940 believing it was a failure. It only became widely recognized as a masterpiece after World War II, when it was distributed to U.S. soldiers.

2. **The Book Had a Different Title** – Fitzgerald struggled with titles before settling on *The Great Gatsby*. Some of his working titles included *Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires*, *Gold-Hatted Gatsby*, and *Trimalchio in West Egg* (a reference to a character in an ancient Roman novel known for extravagant parties).

3. **The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg Were Inspired by a Real Billboard** – The iconic billboard of the bespectacled eyes in the novel was likely inspired by a real ad Fitzgerald saw in Queens, New York, for an optometrist named Dr. T. J. Eckleburg.

4. **Gatsby Might Be Based on a Real Bootlegger** – Some historians believe Gatsby was inspired by a real-life figure, Arnold Rothstein, a famous gangster and bootlegger of the 1920s who was allegedly behind fixing the 1919 World Series.

5. **Fitzgerald Lived the Party Life** – Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda were known for their lavish and wild parties, living extravagantly beyond their means in the Roaring Twenties.

6. **The First Film Adaptation Was a Silent Movie** – The first *Great Gatsby* film adaptation was a silent movie in 1926, just a year after the book’s release. Unfortunately, no known copies of the film exist today.

7. **The Green Light Was Almost a Different Symbol** – The famous green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, symbolizing Gatsby’s unreachable dream, was not in Fitzgerald’s original drafts. He added it later to give more symbolic weight to Gatsby’s longing.

8. **The Book Was Once Banned** – *The Great Gatsby* has been challenged and banned at various times due to its depictions of drinking, adultery, and bootlegging, despite its now-iconic status as an American classic.