You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by emmkayt
Appointment in Samarra: (penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by John O'Hara
4.0
I'd never read John O'Hara before, and apparently this is his best novel. From what I've read about him, he was a complex and not very pleasant fellow - a mean drunk and a brawler, with an over-developed sensitivity to social hierarchies. Judging from Appointment at Samarra, these qualities came with a dose of self-awareness.
The novel takes place in 1930 in a lightly fictionalized town in southeastern Pennsylvania, anthracite mining country, where O'Hara grew up. A young scion of the town, owner of the local Cadillac dealership, enters a Christmastime spiral of self-destruction after having tossed a drink in the face of a wealthy social climber (to whom he owes money) at the country club.
O'Hara's depiction of the class lines, racial and ethnic divisions, and endless social gradations in the town induces claustrophobia. His rather tender depiction of the marital relationships of two couples was an intriguing surprise, given the era when he was writing. Some of the book I liked very much, some not so much, but it was all quite interesting.
The novel takes place in 1930 in a lightly fictionalized town in southeastern Pennsylvania, anthracite mining country, where O'Hara grew up. A young scion of the town, owner of the local Cadillac dealership, enters a Christmastime spiral of self-destruction after having tossed a drink in the face of a wealthy social climber (to whom he owes money) at the country club.
O'Hara's depiction of the class lines, racial and ethnic divisions, and endless social gradations in the town induces claustrophobia. His rather tender depiction of the marital relationships of two couples was an intriguing surprise, given the era when he was writing. Some of the book I liked very much, some not so much, but it was all quite interesting.