John O'Hara

John O'Hara was born in 1905 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of a doctor. His father died in the mid-1920s, leaving the family unable to afford Yale, the college O'Hara had hoped to attend. He worked as a reporter for newspapers and magazines and began writing short stories, many of them in The New Yorker, and he is credited with helping to create that magazine's short-story style. His first novel, Appointment in Samarra (1934), set in a fictional Pennsylvania town based on Pottsville, follows the self-destruction of a car dealer over three days. Butterfield 8 (1935) is set in New York. His epistolary novel Pal Joey (1940) became a Broadway musical with songs by Rodgers and Hart. O'Hara was known for his ear for dialogue and his close attention to social class and status. His novel Ten North Frederick won the National Book Award in 1956. He wrote many more novels and story collections and died in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1970.

John O'Hara is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: Raised Irish Catholic; his adult beliefs are not well documented. Source: Wikipedia