Skip to content

No image available

Appointment in Samarra

No image available

Appointment in Samarra

by John O'Hara

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
Condition
Fine/Fine
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Flemington, New Jersey, United States
Item Price
NZ$109.80
Or just NZ$98.82 with a
Bibliophiles Club Membership
NZ$8.45 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 7 to 14 days

More Shipping Options

Payment Methods Accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • PayPal

About This Item

Harcourt Brace & Company, 1961. Book. Fine. Hardcover. Facsimile. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Exact Facsimile of the First Edition. Fine Copy in Like Jacket.Terrific Copy of This Masterpiece..

Synopsis

At the ripe age of twenty-eight, John O’Hara completed Appointment in Samarra, his first novel, in less than four months. At a similarly quick pace, the events of the book take place in a span of just three days. In this brief time, Appointment in Samarra tells of the increasingly impulsive and self-destructive acts that lead to the main character’s suicide. Julian English, once a high-ranking member of the community of Gibbsville, angers and alienates those close to him, resulting in the rapid decline of his social status. Specific explanations for Julian’s behavior are unclear in the text, though personal insecurities along with his alcoholism undoubtedly play a role. The small-town prejudices of Gibbsville (O’Hara’s fictionalized version of his hometown, Pottsville, Pennsylvania) greatly affect Julian’s demise as well. Omniscient narration works to expose these prejudices via the inner thoughts of various people in the town. The title, Appointment in Samarra, is a reference to W. Somerset Maugham's 1933 retelling of an old story in his play, Sheppey. In the story, which appears as an epigraph for the novel, Death speaks of meeting a merchant in Samarra, informing the reader from the beginning of the novel’s fatal ending. In his foreword to the 1952 reprint, O'Hara says that the working title for the novel was The Infernal Grove. It was not until fellow writer Dorothy Parker showed him the story in Maugham's play that he got the idea for the title Appointment in Samarra. Modern Library ranked Appointment in Samarra 22nd on its list of the “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.

Read More: Identifying first editions of Appointment in Samarra

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the specific copy you purchased!

Details

Bookseller
Jeff Bergman Books ABAA/ILAB US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
012726
Title
Appointment in Samarra
Author
John O'Hara
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Fine
Jacket Condition
Fine
Edition
Facsimile
Publisher
Harcourt Brace & Company
Date Published
1961
Keywords
John O'Hara
Size
8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall

Terms of Sale

Jeff Bergman Books ABAA/ILAB

All books may be returned for any reason.

About the Seller

Jeff Bergman Books ABAA/ILAB

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2006
Flemington, New Jersey

About Jeff Bergman Books ABAA/ILAB

25 Year Book Dealer.Modern First Editions.Signed Copies, Pulitzer Prize Winners,Booker Winners,First Books and Classics.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Facsimile
An exact copy of an original work. In books, it refers to a copy or reproduction, as accurate as possible, of an original...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
tracking-