I read The Confessions of Max Tivoli, by Andrew Sean Greer nearly a year ago. I liked it; it was different. And now I'm seeing commercials for a movie that has the same theme but I found out it is based on an entirely different book. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a short story called, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, in 1922. Although no mention of Fitzgerald's work is in either Greer's acknowledgements or in any of the publicity blurbs, there are too many similarities for it to be a coincidence that these books are so alike.
Max Tivoli is born as an old man in appearance. However his mind is that of a newborn. So although he is physically aging backwards throughout his life, his mind is progressing the same as everyone else.
In Fitzgerald's story, Benjamin Button is born as an old man in body and in mind. As he ages backwards, so does his mind. So that when he dies - he looks & thinks as an infant. I guess that makes for a better movie than Max Tivoli. But that is what makes Greer's book so enticing - the dichotomy between Max's appearance & his thoughts. While he looked 70 years old, his mind was equal to that of a 10-12 year old.
The Confessions of Max Tivoli is written as though it is his diary & letters to his love. It is a deeply romantic novel set in San Francisco in the early 1900s. I would have loved to see this as a movie. But I'll still go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. (With Cate Blanchett in it - it can't be bad!)
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