Selected Stories

John O'Hara was born in Pennsylvania on 31 January 1905. His first novel, Appointment in Samarra (1934), won him instant acclaim, and he 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. John O'Hara died on 11 April 1970.

"This is fiction, but it has, for me, the clang of truth" -- John Updike "Better than anyone else, he told the truth about his time, the first half of the twentieth century. He was a professional. He wrote honestly and well" -- John O'Hara on John O'Hara, inscribed on his gravestone "A man who knows exactly what he is writing about and has written it marvellously well" -- Ernest Hemingway "A social realist obsessed with the peccadilloes of the upper class, but he was considered a daring writer in the Thirties and Forties, his best prose distinguished by its concision, clever dialect and sexual candor. He is credited with inventing the New Yorker short story" Washington Post "A writer of dream-sharp tales, crisp yet dense" Los Angeles Times