Your Daily Penguin: Appointment in Samarra!

[@brendoncampbell6457]

Enjoyed listening, and learned so much about O'Hara, a writer I'm just getting into thanks to this blog. Thanks. Loved reading Samarra. Reminded me of Fitzgerald But PS of all Hemingway's novels, I do find his first the most admirable ( 'The Sun Also Rises' / 'Fiesta' ) . :)

[@lits3212]

I bought this edition after watching the review. It’s on the way. Can’t wait to read it!

[@vmigop]

I had heard of O’Hara because I was an English major. Shelby Foote liked him a great deal, so I just ordered a used hardcover of some selected stories on Amazon. Thanks for your insight. I think I will enjoy his realism.

[@trishbirchard1270]

so thrilled to have floundered into this thrilling review regarding this book I only just plucked from the library today ! Wish you could read the entire thing to me as the menthol fumes of this bandage are bothering my eyes.There was a paperback ( Dell ? ) that lived in the bathroom of our childhood house ; the cover featured a Grace Kelly gal being helped out of her coat ; I agree that the edition you're flapping around seems irreverent somehow. Wonderful to know all this other stuff. Torn rotator cuff , lying on ice , John O' hara , all I need is a dry martini . Thank you !

[@carolinasiqueira752]

My poor tortured TBR I just checked in book depository and Library of America has a 880 book of his short stories, I think is all of them, but I am not sure.

[@saintdonoghue]

Sorry about your poor tortured TBR!

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

That cover is rad!! I always love the epigraph for this work. I was getting ready to slide in a comment about how I really like his stories when you jumped onto that track. I found a massive volume of his stories called Gibbsville, PA, and I love them! “Doctor’s Son” or “Imagine Kissing Pete” alone make a more indelible (and enjoyable) experience. Samarra feels like a youthful shot at Greek tragedy.

[@saintdonoghue]

I know! Can you IMAGINE a write as seasoned as McGrath just placidly saying it's O'Hara's best work? Incredible!

[@MarcelReads]

Just ordered this lovely copy 😍 and it sounds like a good read.

[@HannahsBooks]

What a stunning edition! I get why you don’t like the art, but I love how it fits with the book.

[@ioanafilipescu2327]

I LOVE John O’Hara! I enjoyed very much ‘Appointment in Samarra’ and Butterfield 8’ (although I’ve only seen the movie for the latter, starting Elizabeth Taylor as Gloria, a masterpiece♥️). I ordered last week The New York Stories, can’t wait for the book to arrive!

[@gaildoughty6799]

Oh, thank you very much for this. I love O’Hara’s work and always have. I came across this book in my early teens and was irredeemably hooked on his work. It’s never lost its charm for me. I’m always annoyed when people-and they are legion-dismiss him as a middlebrow hack. Omg: The Hat on the Bed! Sermons and Soda Water. Just marvelous. One story of many that stuck with me was Bucket of Blood.

[@saintdonoghue]

Yes! And my contention is that the bedrock reason why people dismiss him as a middlebrow hack is because that's just how Brendan Gill portrayed him so memorably - and that just got propagated infinitely in the reading world over decades, until it became an accepted bit of truth even for people who'd never heard of Gill nor read his book ...

[@BloodlessNoise1979]

Well, you sold me. I just finished “The Last Picture Show” and loved it, and this sounds like it might scratch the same sort of itch. Ordering now!

[@lochmurphy5109]

This book is fantastic. I agree on the artwork. I really need to read his other novels and short stories.

[@peterprablo1331]

Great Video!

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

Ooh an author I have never even heard of, let alone read.

[@brettzicari5233]

You are very hard on O’Hara’s novels in your review. I was surprised to hear you like them so much after reading that review.

[@tripp8833]

This is weird, I was just looking into this book after hearing Slavoj zizek mention it in an interview.

[@saintdonoghue]

And now you've heard somebody WITH a functioning brain mention it - so, both sides!

[@tripp8833]

Steve Donoghue lol! Agree with you there. Although his antics are great