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ATTLEBORO - During the Roaring '20s, F. Scott Fitzgerald's fictional character Jay Gatsby personified the era's preoccupation with style and material excess.

But in the end, the playboy hero of Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" turned out to be only too human - unable to hide his humble origins and tainted fortune. Ultimately, he paid the bill for his and his friends' callousness and superficiality with his life.

Throughout the novel, however, Fitzgerald brings to life the Jazz Age and its image of "wonderful nonsense" - marble-walled mansions filled with partiers, fancy cars, prohibition and social elegance.

Beginning in September, Attleboro's 1 Adventure 1 Book 1 Community initiative will celebrate Fitzgerald's 1925 novel with six weeks of read-a-thons, book club discussions, a re-creation of a 1920s speakeasy and the showing of the Robert Redford-Sam Waterston movie version of the book, along with panels and community-wide reading.

There also will be a celebration of the American Dream, in which schoolchildren will be able to display artistic portrayals of the dream at the Attleboro Arts Museum. The extended exploration of Gatsby and his world will be capped by a Gatsby-like gala at the Attleboro Public Library, with costumed guests, antique cars and dancing to a live, 1920s-era band.

This year's book event, financed through local fundraising and a $16,000 grant through The Big Read program of the National Endowment for the Arts, is a follow-up to last year's highly successful 1ABC campaign that focused on "Fahrenheit 451."

The library expects to have 250 copies of the novel on hand for reading during the event, said Joan Pilkington-Smith, co-chairwoman of the endeavor, and discussion kits also will be available for the city's many book clubs.

Most events during the six-week program will be free, and will feature involvement from several local companies and partner agencies, including the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro Council on Aging, the public library, Attleboro Public Schools, Bishop Feehan High School, Bristol Community College, Friends of the Attleboro Public Library, the Attleboro YMCA, The Literacy Center, The Sun Chronicle and Double ACS local access cable.

"The Great Gatsby," acclaimed as one of the most essential works of American literature, continues to be a staple of high school and college literature classes.

"It transcends its era," said 1ABC committee member and retired English teacher David Bennett, who noted that the book contains many themes relevant to the present day.

They range from the concept that any hard-working American can achieve success to the corrupting influence of the pursuit of money and power for its own sake.

"In any American literature class, it's a don't miss," he said.

Attleboro's 1ABC committee, co-chaired by Victor Bonneville and Pilkington Smith, seeks to bind together elements of literacy and culture in a community-wide setting that offers all ages an opportunity to participate and benefit from a common literary experience.

Participants also will get a chance to express their own ideas and reactions to the book and its time period through a broad range of reader-participation events. Beginning in early September, a series of workshops will be held at participating schools at which students will be encouraged to create their own two- and three-dimensional artworks expressing their idea of the American Dream, a central theme in "The Great Gatsby."

The workshops will be guided by artist-educators for the Attleboro Arts Museum, and artworks created will be exhibited during a three-day show at the museum Oct. 16-18. Works will then be broken up into smaller shows that will travel to various locations throughout the city.

During early September, The Sun Chronicle will solicit readers' ideas on the question of whether "The Great Gatsby" should be considered the greatest of all American novels.

A formal kickoff of the campaign, with an appearance by a re-enactor couple costumed as Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, will be held Sept. 24.

Other planned activities include a family game night Sept. 29 featuring games of the 1920s at the children's room of the library, a murder mystery night Oct. 3 at The Literacy Center on North Main Street, a read-a-thon Oct. 17 with guest readers presenting the entire novel at Jaec's on Union Street, a showing of the film "The Great Gatsby" Oct. 21 at Bristol Community College and a luncheon discussion panel Oct. 22 at the college, a re-created speakeasy Oct. 25 at the South Attleboro American Legion Hall, a literacy tea Oct. 26 at the Sweet House on North Main Street, a "readers' theater" Oct. 28 at BCC and the concluding gala Nov. 1 at the public library.

Those attending the gala will be encouraged to come in costumes. The Dixie Diehards Jazz Band will be on hand playing the popular music of the Jazz Age, ranging from "The Charleston" to "Everybody Loves My Baby." Handouts and Charleston dance lessons are planned.

Organizers also are looking for other opportunities to add to the discussion about "The Great Gatsby." Discussions are under way with author and Fitzgerald fan Chris Bohjalian to lecture during the campaign, and 1ABC is interested in hearing from some of the many local people who served as extras in the filming of the Redford-Waterston film for a possible discussion presentation.

RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.