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A review by olchefdan
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara
4.0
The commonly used metaphor of insects stuck on a pin applies to what O'Hara does with the "hangover generation" citizens of Gibbsville, PA. If you like your approach to the noveaux riches and the noveaux plus riches who sneer at them to be zoological, as I do, you will enjoy this.
Like the Kerouac of "Big Sur", the characters here are trying to be drunk and fun like their literary predecessors, the Gatsbys et al, of less than a decade prior, but succeed in only being drunk, sad, and destructive (which is, of course, what Kerouac, Gatsby, and the Fitzgeralds really always were).
There are few characters to like here, save poor Caroline English, but the book is fascinating and surprising.
Like the Kerouac of "Big Sur", the characters here are trying to be drunk and fun like their literary predecessors, the Gatsbys et al, of less than a decade prior, but succeed in only being drunk, sad, and destructive (which is, of course, what Kerouac, Gatsby, and the Fitzgeralds really always were).
There are few characters to like here, save poor Caroline English, but the book is fascinating and surprising.