The Vegetable; or, From President to Postman

by F. Scott (Francis Scott) Fitzgerald

"The Vegetable; or, From President to Postman" by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a play published in 1923. Fitzgerald's only theatrical work, it satirizes the American dream through Jerry Frost, a middle-class railroad clerk who dreams of becoming president—or at least a postman. Henpecked by his wife and trapped in a dull marriage, Jerry embarks on comic misadventures that mock ordinary ambition. The play's disastrous premiere in Atlantic City left audiences walking out and Fitzgerald heading to a bar during intermission.