"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."
- epitaph on O'Hara's tombstone, written by himself
I consider John O'Hara to be the most underrated American author of the twentieth century. His sixteen novels and over 400 short stories capture with surprising clarity the class struggle that was raging here in our own country. Yet, they were kept from becoming tiresome rants about economics like much of the other writing of the time by O'Hara's phenomenal ability to transform complex human relationships into words.
Unlike his most famous characters, John O'Hara did not grow up a member of the upper class. Instead, he was born the son of an Irish doctor on January 31, 1905 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. His father died when O'Hara was 19, leaving him unable to attend college. He began writing for various newspapers and eventually moved to New York to write short stories for The New Yorker. John O'Hara earned himself much criticism because of his excessive self-promotion. Unfortunately, the distaste that his behavior gave to literary critics has caused much of his writing to have been overlooked. O'Hara died in Princeton, New Jersey in 1970.
I put together a list of John O'Hara's novels with links to those that are currently in print. I hope that you find his work as enjoyable as I have.
Novels
1934 - Appointment in Samarra
1935 - BUtterfield 8
1939 - Files on Parade
1940 - Pal Joey
1949 - A Rage to Live
1951 - The Farmers Hotel
1955 - Ten North Frederick
1959 - From the Terrace
1960 - Ourselves to Know
1962 - The Big Laugh
1960 - Elizabeth Appleton
1965 - The Lockwood Concern
1967 - The Instrument
1969 - Lovey Childs: A Philadelphian's Story
1970 - The Ewings
1972 - The Second Ewings