Appointment in Samarra (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: John O’Hara
- First Published: 1934
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Naturalistic literature
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Suicide, Social issues, Marriage, Class consciousness, 1930’s, Drinking or drunkenness, Clubs, social, Christmas, Debtors or creditors
- Locales: Pennsylvania
Set during the Christmas holidays of 1930 in and around the fictitious town of Gibbsville--probably O’Hara’s hometown of Pottsville-- Pennsylvania (also the locus of many subsequent O’Hara fictions), the novel portrays the rapid decline and fall of thirty-year-old Julian English, a Cadillac dealer hitherto regarded as one of the rising bright lights in Gibbsville society. In less than a week’s time, Julian English discovers that his world has shrunk to such a degree that he can no longer live in it; as befits his occupation, he will leave the world from the driver’s seat of...
[The entire page is 685 words long]
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