Rediscovering John O'Hara

John O'Hara (1905-1970) is one of those fascinating authors whose reputation waxes and wanes and then waxes again. Although often considered a master of the short story, O'Hara was also a consistently best-selling author, starting in the thirties and continuing through the sixties. He themes were often money and people trying to get it, class distinctions and spot-on dialog. Fran Lebowitz called him the "real F. Scott Fitzgerald." While his works weren't often critically acclaimed, he's definitely worth a look.

APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA is O'Hara's first novel and often considered his best. It is a concise (251 pages) and somewhat terrifying tale of hubris in the modern world. Set in 1930, it is the tale of Julian English who, at the novel's start, resides at the top of Gibbsville, PA's social structure, but who loses everything in a breathtakingly short time. English's struggle to retain his social status and everything that goes with it is tense and has a certain classical element to it. When the editorial board of the Modern Library (Random House) published their 100 Best Novels of the Century, they put Appointment in Samarra at number 22.

If you're looking for a good old-fashioned long novel that takes weeks to get through, you might want to try O'Hara's FROM THE TERRACE and RAGE TO LIVE. The library has new paperback editions of all three.