By the time of his death, Fitzgerald was essentially unknown to the general public. The few who were familiar saw Fitzgerald as an alcoholic, the embodiment of Jazz Age decadence. Well after his death, Scribners still had many unsold editions of "The Great Gatsby" from its first printing. As late as the 1940s, many of Fitzgerald's works were labelled period pieces, with critic Peter Quennell dismissing "The Great Gatsby" as having "the sadness and the remote jauntiness of a Gershwin tune."