How Great is the Great Gatsby?

I actually listened to Is The Great Gatsby Actually Profound? in my motel room/new home.  Listen, it does make some good points. I re-read F. Scott Fitzgerald (including Gatsby) in prison and had forgotten just how well he wrote. I first read Gatsby in my 12th grade English class.  From what I heard on the podcast, I missed much of Fitzgerald's themes and defects. At least in detail, Tom Buchanan was a jerk (a polite term for public consumption of what I would say in private) even back in high school.

I would quibble on one point in the podcast. It is said that Daisy (the femme fatale of the novel) is a Midwesterner,  My recollection is that she was from Louisville (Wikipedia agrees with me.) That makes her, in my opinion, a Southerner. Midwesterner means to me, first and foremost a person from what was once the Northwest Territory. This was north of the Ohio River. South of the Ohio were the slave states. I think my definition accords with how the podcast discusses Midwestern character, particularly as described in the podcast.

Set aside 30 minutes and listen to the podcast.