There's a great future in the dry-goods business," Roger Button was saying. He was not a spiritual man—his aesthetic sense was rudimentary. His father hesitated. "Well," he said finally, "I don't know. Fourteen is the age for putting on long trousers—and you are only twelve." I like men of your age," Hildegarde told him. "Young boys are so idiotic. They tell me how much champagne they drink at college, and how much money they lose playing cards. Men of your age know how to appreciate women."

Release dates for 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' ". UK.IMDb.com. May 1, 2009. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011 . Retrieved May 1, 2011. If you enjoyed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, you might like Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, also available in Penguin Classics. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” began as a satirical work of fantasy written by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in the early 1920’s. Although he was proud of it, Fitzgerald struggled to find a willing publisher because the story departed so dramatically from his more popular flapper stories. Nevertheless, Colliers magazine accepted “Benjamin Button” for its May 27, 1922, issue, and the story also appeared in the “Fantasies” section of Fitzgerald’s anthology Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). Swinton Set to Push 'Benjamin Button' ". ComingSoon.net. September 24, 2006 . Retrieved April 28, 2007. With news of Benjamin and Hildegarde’s marriage, Baltimore erupts in gossip about Benjamin’s condition. This time, though, people spread false rumors about him. General Moncrief hates the idea of Hildegarde marrying Benjamin, but he eventually gets used to it, largely because Benjamin is a successful businessman. Within 15 years, Benjamin is not only the head of the company, but also has the body and mind of a handsome young man. All the gossip about him goes away.Ormond Joins Fincher's 'Benjamin Button' ". ComingSoon.net. October 18, 2006 . Retrieved April 28, 2007. Sciretta, Peter (May 31, 2009). "2009 MTV Movie Awards Winners". /Film. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023 . Retrieved November 26, 2023. As this was an inane and unanswerable argument Benjamin made no reply, and from that time on a chasm began to widen between them. He wondered what possible fascination she had ever exercised over him. Honeycutt, Kirk (November 24, 2008). "Film Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008 . Retrieved December 7, 2008.

By the time Benjamin graduates from Harvard, his wife has retired to Italy. Benjamin moves in with his son, who finds Benjamin's youthful appearance embarrassing. Roscoe insists Benjamin refer to him as "uncle" both in public and in private. In May 2005, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett entered negotiations to star in the film. [11] In September 2006, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng and Taraji P. Henson entered negotiations to be cast into the film. [12] The following October, with production yet to begin, Julia Ormond was cast as Daisy's daughter, to whom Blanchett's character tells the story of her love for Benjamin Button. [13] Brad Pitt had collaborated with many of his co-stars in previous films. He co-starred with Ormond in Legends of the Fall, with Flemyng in Snatch, with Jared Harris in Ocean's Twelve, with Blanchett in Babel and with Swinton in Burn After Reading. But when his own time came, and he drifted with her out upon the changing floor to the music of the latest waltz from Paris, his jealousies and anxieties melted from him like a mantle of snow. Blind with enchantment, he felt that life was just beginning. When, six months later, the engagement of Miss Hildegarde Moncrief to Mr. Benjamin Button was made known (I say "made known," for General Moncrief declared he would rather fall upon his sword than announce it), the excitement in Baltimore society reached a feverish pitch. The almost forgotten story of Benjamin's birth was remembered and sent out upon the winds of scandal in picaresque and incredible forms. It was said that Benjamin was really the father of Roger Button, that he was his brother who had been in prison for forty years, that he was John Wilkes Booth in disguise—and, finally, that he had two small conical horns sprouting from his head.

Why, as a matter of fact, my name's Button——" began Benjamin, but Mr. Hart cut him off. "I'm very glad to meet you, Mr. Button. I'm expecting your son here any minute." Foreman, Lisa (May 4, 2005). "Blanchett, Pitt on 'Case' for Fincher". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007 . Retrieved April 28, 2007.

Cornell, Kevin. “The Curious Job of Kevin Cornell.” Bearskinrug, August 13, 2008. http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_articles/2008/08/13/curious_job. How does Fitzgerald use tone and style to create a world that is fantastical and dreamlike, yet realistic?To a chorus of titters which went up from the group of undergraduates, Benjamin walked away. But he was not fated to escape so easily. On his melancholy walk to the railroad station he found that he was being followed by a group, then by a swarm, and finally by a dense mass of undergraduates. The word had gone around that a lunatic had passed the entrance examinations for Yale and attempted to palm himself off as a youth of eighteen. A fever of excitement permeated the college. Men ran hatless out of classes, the football team abandoned its practice and joined the mob, professors' wives with bonnets awry and bustles out of position, ran shouting after the procession, from which proceeded a continual succession of remarks aimed at the tender sensibilities of Benjamin Button. Dunkley, Cathy; McNary, Dave (June 2, 2003). "Par popping its 'Button' ". Variety . Retrieved April 28, 2007. To add to the breach, he found, as the new century gathered headway, that his thirst for gaiety grew stronger. Never a party of any kind in the city of Baltimore but he was there, dancing with the prettiest of the young married women, chatting with the most popular of the debutantes, and finding their company charming, while his wife, a dowager of evil omen, sat among the chaperons, now in haughty disapproval, and now following him with solemn, puzzled, and reproachful eyes.