Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara

[larryF]

I just finished this book. I thought the last 100 pages or so were absolutely captivating. Julian English's downfall, while sort of over trivial things and nothing major, was extremely interesting. I mean everything happens in a 3 day span and boom, its over. Much, much deeper than Gatsby when it comes to Jazz Age books, imo.

Any thoughts from anyone else who has read the book?

[dfloyd]

It was not published until 1934. Appointment was O'Hara's best novel, but you can't compare him to Scott Fitzgerald whose talent overspreads that of O'Hara in all instances. O'Hara did have in common with Fitzgerald a fascination for society and the moneyed class. While Fitzgerald went to Princeton and wanted to be a big man on campus (he never graduated), O'Hara wished to go to Yale, but had no money and only got as far as a small college, Niagra college I believe. His not attending college haunted him all his life. Hemingway once facetiously suggested that a collection be made to send O'Hara to Yale so he would stop talking about it. Later in life, he suggested to Yale he be given an honorary degree, but the way to not be so honored is to ask for it.

If you want to read more O'Hara, read his short stories published mostly by the New Yorker. He wrote some 200 hundred of them, and they are his best work.

O'Hara never lived up to his first novel, Appointment .... His later work became extremely verbose and boring. Many of his novels were made into movies, including Ten North Frederick, Butterfield 8, From the Terrace, all of which are somewhat soap operaish.

To others in his craft, O'Hara was the consummate boor. He sent a telegram to John Steinbeck, upon Steinbeck's winning the Nobel prize, which said he knew of only one other author who deserved the prize, meaning himself.

The best of his novels after Appointment ... is Butterfield 8. The rest are swimming pool novels which further reveal his fascination with society and money.