John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905–April 11, 1970) was an American writer born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He initially made a name for himself with his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8. He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue. O'Hara was a keen observer of social status and class differences, and wrote frequently about the socially a...
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John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905–April 11, 1970) was an American writer born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He initially made a name for himself with his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8. He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue. O'Hara was a keen observer of social status and class differences, and wrote frequently about the socially ambitious.
A controversial figure, his reputation for cataloging social ephemera and his personal irascibility frequently overshadowed his gifts as a storyteller. Writer Fran Lebowitz called him "the real F. Scott Fitzgerald." John Updike, one of his consistent supporters, grouped him with Chekhov in a recent C-Span interview. Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times dismissed him as "a well-known lout."
His father had died when O'Hara was 19, leaving him unable to afford the college of his choice, Yale. He did attend Niagara University in...
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