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APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA
by O'Hara, John
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Very good plus.
- Seller
-
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1934. First edition. Very good plus.. First edition, scarce advance "presentation" copy, of O'Hara's acclaimed novel, in the original pictorial wrappers. "To me, O'Hara is the real Fitzgerald," Fran Lebowitz once said; underrated "because every single person who knew him hated him." Untrue; unkind; but fair enough. This is O'Hara's best known book, a sexually frank, Hemingway-endorsed narrative of Pennsylvania miseries, enacted in the person of Julian English, who magnifies his troubles with bitterness, alcohol, and finally carbon monoxide. The title of APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA, taken from a parable retold by Maugham and used as the book's epigraph, serves to signal its inevitable end: fate and death come for us all, even unto the car dealerships of Gibbsville. A great American novel. 8'' x 5.5''. Original pictorial wrappers with flaps. Front fly leaf stamped with "TO BE PUBLISHED" and "PRICE," completed in pen with "Aug. 16" and "probably 2.50". 301, [1] pages. Housed in custom green cloth clamshell box. Wrappers with expert reinforcement along front fold, some small attendant areas of restoration; spine and rear panel toned, faint spine creasing.
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.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Type Punch Matrix
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 46623
- Title
- APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA
- Author
- O'Hara, John
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good plus.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Harcourt, Brace and Company
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1934
- Keywords
- 20th century,ARCs and Proofs,US American
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
Type Punch Matrix
Biblio member since 2020
Silver Spring, Maryland
About Type Punch Matrix
Type Punch Matrix is a rare book firm founded by Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy. TPM is a member firm of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and upholds their Code of Ethics.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- Clamshell Box
- A protective box designed for storing and preserving a bound book or loose sheets. A clamshell box is hinged on one side, with...
- Flap(s)
- The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...
- Fair
- is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....
- 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...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
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