Rating: 
Summary: The High English in Coal Country
Review: Classism and alcoholism before any 'disease model' or political correctness. Reading this book is like some sort of regression into a time when your name was your destiny and if you blemished it with too much hootch, it was a tumble from God's grace and your country club status. English, the hero's patronym, and certainly the central point of the American aristocratic mimicry- O'Hara was Irish, after all, though entranced perhaps even more over the WASP's he wrote of so often tragically. Julian's father was a 'first rate' social standard, although the son followed too far in the darker torments of his grandfather the thief and scandalous patriarch held in front of the child throughout his life. Here we see an author in touch with the psychoanalytic religion of his day. This book is an anachronism and an overly romantic and too obvious tale of the fallen soul. That's what makes it akin to a secretive enjoyable read!
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read American Author
Review: Fitzgerald, Hemingway, C.S.Lewis, John Cheever. If any one of these authors was ever important to you, please pick up O'Hara. He's critical to understanding twentieth century American authors. At the very least, you can engage in the unending debate on whether he's worthy of joining this pantheon of writers. Worthy of an airport paperback rack? Smalltime trashy romance writer? Or do you think he paints a richly textured canvas of an America and its high society about to be turn the corner on the first half of the 20th century? An important Irish-Catholic writer? My tip: read this book. If nothing else you'll learn about bituminous and anthracitic coal, the United Mine Workers, how to mix a martini, (and throw one), why fraternities were ever important, and what a flivver was. It's certainly a period piece, and O'Hara does not hold back with the language of the jazz age...which may confuse modern readers (it was a gay party, his chains dropped a link, etc.) In fact, O'Hara was an early adopter of using slang and vernacular in writing the spoken word, and you can be the judge of whether or not he gets an Irish mobster's (or a "high hat's") tone correctly. He's really at his best with character development, because Julian English (our protaganist) is our bigoted confidante, our tiresome spouse, our wretched boss, our surly neighbor, our spoiled college-boy brat, our pretentious friend and our preening big man about town all in one. O'Hara waltzes us through Julian's demise and we root for him, for one more chance, all the way down.
Rating:
Summary: Some Things You May Not Have Known
Review: I grew up in the town at the center of this story. The next response would be, "there is no such place as Gibbsville, Pa". You would be right. The town's real name is Pottsville. Pottsville also appears on Yuengling Beer labels where the beverage was originally produced. Each character is a composite of real people that existed at the time of publication. The book was fist published in 1934, and was considered controversial for it's openly explicit language and it's references to sex. It's also a very realistic portrayal of life at that time.
I don't know if I was so taken with the book because of it's significance to where I lived or because it fairly represents the mindset of community economically devastated by it's reliance on the coal industry (which ultimately failed everyone associated with it).
I still think it's a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Truly, one of the Great American Novels
Review: I have to admit that if it wasn't for the Modern Library's famous Top 100 List, I may have never heard of O'Hara or this title. But I have read it now, and I'm here to preach the gospel of the converted. Holy cow! What a book!
In a nutshell, this book is about a reckless young man's weeklong fall from social grace, and his ultimate plunge into despair. All of this comes about from dissatisfaction with his life; his anger, resentment, and mistrust toward those around him; his drinking; and his penchant for burning bridges with the wrong people at the wrong time.
Told in lean, smooth prose, this book reads almost like a noir crime novel. The dialog is spot-on, and the story is filled with full-fleshed, flawed characters that all seem to have a seedy side to them. O'Hara also has a terrific knack for portraying how people behave under immense strain.
I've read that may considered O'Hara to be a "trash novelist." He was often criticized for injecting references to his characters' violent behavior and their unusual sexual tastes. But this is part of what makes his writing so effective. Even though Samarra came out in 1934, it still has shock value. Mind you, these references are not graphic. They appear abruptly and casually, with little or no elaboration. But they are jarring. The net effect is that they sneak under your skin in subtle ways, causing you to see the characters and their underlying psychologies far more vividly.
The combination of dialog, uncluttered description, and deft characterization make O'Hara one of the truly forgotten greats of American letters. For what it's worth, I ordered four more O'Hara titles immediately after finishing this book. I think he is THAT good. Fans of Erskine Caldwell, Charles Bukowski, John Fante, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, and the like, take note. O'Hara is the real deal. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: sloppy but profound
Review: I was not disappointed with this novel, but I do not think it belongs on the best novels of the century list. While much of this book is excellent, its flaws are jarringly obvious. There are plot holes galore, characters who inexplicably appear and then are never heard from again, and so much detail that it just boggles the mind. I suspect that when O'Hara sat down to write this book, he just started typing whatever came to his mind, and without consideration for structure, grammar, or punctuation. After he was finished, he sent it off to his publisher and no one, including O'Hara, knew how to edit it. I've read several of his short stories and they suffered from these same flaws. He is, however, a matchless winner when it comes to writing dialogue; all of his characters are distinctly real in the way they talk. Alas, sometimes, I wonder what ever happened to John O'Hara; he was one of the literary lights of the first half of this century, but he is largely forgotten today.
Rating: 
Summary: WASP Wastrel Wimps Out
Review: It all depends. If you class John O'Hara as an American writer of popular fiction, then he must be up there at the very top with detailed descriptions of his society, use of both colloquial and literary language, and character development. If, on the other hand, you put him in that category we often label "classic fiction", then he doesn't measure up to the other greats of his time. I can't place O'Hara alongside Faulkner, Hemingway, Lewis, Fitzgerald, or even Anderson. Still, APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA reads very well; it is fast-paced and involves you with the various characters, it contains humor, and excellently drawn characters. Julian English, the main protagonist, inherits a place at the top of his society in Gibbsville, Pennsylvania---a pseudonym for Pottstown, where O'Hara grew up. He has married the most desirable girl of his set. What makes him throw a drink in the face of a gentleman who annoys or bores him ? Whatever it is, that starts a most precipitous decline, which only a few days later, leads to a (by then) non-surprise ending. Fate has written it thus, and Julian cannot escape. He doesn't struggle much, that's for sure. Much of the book explores the previous lives of several characters: wife, friends, a small-time gangster. Pottstown life comes across as narrowly provincial, sexually active, fairly alcoholic, at least in its upper reaches, and divided into rigid categories. It has been said before about O'Hara that he creates excellent atmosphere, builds up an intricate plot, and then crashes at the end. This novel is no exception; it just trickles across the finish line. O'Hara's America is one in which Anglo-Saxons still rule, but live under challenge from newer, perhaps more dynamic groups. The rulers dislike all their challengers intensely. Snobbism is writ large in O'Hara's work---though a Catholic of Irish descent, he obviously placed himself with the ruling class and he did come from a wealthy background. He constantly emphasizes the importance of "being with the right people", consuming the right items, living on the right street, and "being at the right social events". And it's no wonder that he reserves his nastiest cracks for Jews. Never a mention without a sneer, a condescending witticism, or outright nastiness. I often felt like throwing the book out the window. I thanked my good luck that I outlived that narrowminded America and can look back on Mr. O'Hara and his heyday with considerable relief that America has changed, at least in this way, for the better. Nothing can prove my point better than the experience of reading this outdated novel.
Rating:
Summary: WASP Wastrel Wimps Out
Review: It all depends. If you class John O'Hara as an American writer of popular fiction, then he must be up there at the very top with detailed descriptions of his society, use of both colloquial and literary language, and character development. If, on the other hand, you put him in that category we often label "classic fiction", then he doesn't measure up to the other greats of his time. I can't place O'Hara alongside Faulkner, Hemingway, Lewis, Fitzgerald, or even Anderson. Still, APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA reads very well; it is fast-paced and involves you with the various characters, it contains humor, and excellently drawn characters. Julian English, the main protagonist, inherits a place at the top of his society in Gibbsville, Pennsylvania---a pseudonym for Pottstown, where O'Hara grew up. He has married the most desirable girl of his set. What makes him throw a drink in the face of a gentleman who annoys or bores him ? Whatever it is, that starts a most precipitous decline, which only a few days later, leads to a (by then) non-surprise ending. Fate has written it thus, and Julian cannot escape. He doesn't struggle much, that's for sure. Much of the book explores the previous lives of several characters: wife, friends, a small-time gangster. Pottstown life comes across as narrowly provincial, sexually active, fairly alcoholic, at least in its upper reaches, and divided into rigid categories. It has been said before about O'Hara that he creates excellent atmosphere, builds up an intricate plot, and then crashes at the end. This novel is no exception; it just trickles across the finish line. O'Hara's America is one in which Anglo-Saxons still rule, but live under challenge from newer, perhaps more dynamic groups. The rulers dislike all their challengers intensely. Snobbism is writ large in O'Hara's work---though a Catholic of Irish descent, he obviously placed himself with the ruling class and he did come from a wealthy background. He constantly emphasizes the importance of "being with the right people", consuming the right items, living on the right street, and "being at the right social events". And it's no wonder that he reserves his nastiest cracks for Jews. Never a mention without a sneer, a condescending witticism, or outright nastiness. I often felt like throwing the book out the window. I thanked my good luck that I outlived that narrowminded America and can look back on Mr. O'Hara and his heyday with considerable relief that America has changed, at least in this way, for the better. Nothing can prove my point better than the experience of reading this outdated novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Strange Read
Review: It would be easy to dismiss "Appointment in Samarra" as insignificant when compared to other, more well known literature. It's certainly a quick, entertaining read, very funny at times, with a loose, somewhat disjointed quality that gives the whole novel a strange tone. Separate events and characters are introduced that don't seem to have any obvious relation to one another, and at the book's end, they still don't. However, as a time capsule of a specific place and time in American cultural history, it's very well done and fascinating to read. At its basic level, "Samarra" inserts a stick of dynamite into the safe, complacent world of affluent, East coast snobbery by introducing into it an influx of immigrants and "new" money. The WASP environment of cocktail parties, Ivy League schools and country clubs couldn't be sheltered forever from European emigres, specifically Jews, with money of their own. I don't want to give anything of the plot away, but I will say that there is a tragedy in this book, and the ripples it sends through the rich community that serves as the focus of this novel's story are meant to signify the larger ripples affecting American culture on a much greater scale as the heady days of the Roaring 20's give way to the more sombre and politically aware days of the 30's and 40's. I'm not completely sure what to make of a side story involving some petty mobsters, but I assume their intrusion into the fabric of this East coast society is meant as yet one more example of the loss of security from which these people felt by rights they would be sheltered. There is no reason not to read "Appointment in Samarra." It won't take up much of your time, and I promise you won't ever be bored by it. Whether you'll find it profound or especially memorable is another story. I didn't particularly find it either, but I would recommend it nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: If you like Fitzgerald...
Review: Then read this...pronto. Rated the #22 fiction book of the 20th Century, Appointment in Samarra did not disappoint. Being a huge Fitzgerald and Hemingway enthusiast and seeing how both recommended this book wholeheartedly, I concluded it to be a can't miss prospect. Something about the shameless decadence, the seemingly limitless ambition, & the uproariously good times that were had during The Jazz Age made it such a riveting and inimitable setting for the likes of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and John O'Hara. While I wouldn't quite include O'Hara in a class with his two contemporaries, Appointment in Samarra does, however, make a strong case for its serious inclusion not too far behind such works as The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, etc. What strikes me as a distinct divergence from such works as The Great Gatsby is that it, unlike Gatsby, it takes place at the onset of The Great Depression - just after Gatsby's epoch. So, in a sense, Appointment is not all fun and games and infinite debauchery without any foreseeable repercussions. Of Fitzgerald's works, I liken it most to The Beautiful and Damned - the perpetual dynamics of a moral vacuum, alcoholism, self-destructive proclivities, failed relationships, adultery, etc. are all readily present -- as is the constant and unflagging conviction of Julian as he steadfastly holds on to any vestige of his integrity through it all. In summation, the extraordinarily crass (although realistic and highly entertaining) dialogue, superb characterization of a veritable endless array of diverse individuals, & a fluid and genuinely suspenseful plot are what make this a great, although somewhat morose, American novel not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Cars, coaltowns, and cocktails at the country club
Review: This appears to be a novel written by a young writer that was not to happy with the people in his hometown. The depression era setting and dialogue seem dated now, and the characters and plot are not very interesting. If you like lyrical writing, this comes off as flat. It probably belongs in the potboiler category sold at airport bookstores rather than on Random House's top 100 list. If you want to read about a small town, read Main Street.
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