O'Hara, John, 1905–70, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Pottsville, Pa. He worked at a number of jobs and ultimately became a newspaperman before the appearance of his first novel, Appointment in Samarra (1934). The book, an immediate success, began O'Hara's long career as a highly commercial and popular writer. Among his other novels are Butterfield 8 (1935), Pal Joey (1940; musical comedy adaptation, 1941), A Rage to Live (1949), Ten North Frederick (1955), From the Terrace (1958), The Lockwood Concern (1965), and The Ewings (1972). O'Hara, who wove his tales around themes of class, sex, and booze, has been called a photographic, acid observer of American urban life. Some critics believe his best work is in his collections of short stories, many of which first appeared in The New Yorker magazine; these include The Doctor's Son (1935), Hellbox (1947), Assembly (1961), The Cape Cod Lighter (1962), The Horse Knows the Way (1964), and Good Samaritan and Other Stories (1974).

Bibliography

See Selected Letters of John O'Hara (1978), ed. by M. J. Bruccoli; biographies by F. Farr (1973), M. J. Bruccoli (1975, repr. 1995), F. MacShane (1980), and G. Wolff (2003).

O'Hara, John (Henry)

(born Jan. 31, 1905, Pottsville, Pa., U.S.—died April 11, 1970, Princeton, N.J.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. O'Hara developed the objective, straightforward style he used in his fiction while working as a critic and reporter in New York City. His works stand as a social history of upwardly mobile Americans of the 1920s through the 1940s. Among them are the popular novels Appointment in Samarra (1934); Butterfield 8 (1935; film, 1960); Pal Joey (1940), adapted as a musical; Ten North Frederick (1955; film, 1958); and From the Terrace (1958; film, 1960).

O'Hara, John (Henry) (1905–70) writer; born in Pottsville, Pa. He attended the Niagara Preparatory School (Niagara Falls, N.Y.). He worked as a reporter in Pottsville (1924–26), then held a variety of jobs, such as steel worker, soda jerk, and gas meter reader. He moved to New York City where he worked as a movie critic, and, using the name of Franey Delaney, as a radio commentator. He was a newspaper editor in Pittsburgh before becoming a press agent for Warner Brothers in Hollywood and a film writer (1934–45). He later settled in Princeton, N.J. A keen observer of the social habits and possessions of his time, he wrote entertaining novels about the sexual exploits and struggles of the upper-middle-class, but never fully gained the critical respect he craved. Appointment in Samarra (1934) was his first successful novel, followed by others such as Butterfield 8 (1935), and Ten North Frederick (1955). Another work, Pal Joey (1940), became a popular musical.