Appointment in Samarra

by O'HARA, JOHN

• ISBN13: 9780375719202
• ISBN10: 0375719202
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-07-08
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

A twentieth-century classic,Appointment in Samarrais the first and most widely read book by the writer Fran Leibowitz called "the real F. Scott Fitzgerald." In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville social circuit is electrified with parties and dances, where the music plays late into the night and the liquor flows freely. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline Englishthe envy of friends and strangers alike. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction.Appointment in Samarrabrilliantly captures the personal politics and easy bitterness of small-town life. It is John O'Hara's crowning achievement, and a lasting testament to the keen social intelligence of a major American novelist.

Author Biography

John O’Hara (1905—70) received instant acclaim for Appointment in Samarra, his first novel, and quickly came to be regarded as one of the most prominent writers in America. He won the National Book Award for his novel Ten North Frederick and had more stories published in The New Yorker than anyone in the history of the magazine. His fourteen novels include A Rage to Live, Pal Joey, Butterfield 8, and From the Terrace, and his more than four hundred short stories have been collected in twelve volumes.