Appointment in Samarra

PENGUIN CLASSICS DELUXE EDITION

JOHN O’HARA (1905–1970) was one of the most prominent American writers of the twentieth century. Championed by Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Dorothy Parker, he wrote seventeen novels, including Appointment in Samarra, his first; BUtterfield 8, which was made into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor; and Ten North Frederick, which won the National Book Award. He has had more stories published in The New Yorker than anyone in the history of the magazine. Born in Pottsfield, Pennsylvania, he lived for many years in New York and in Princeton, New Jersey, where he died.

CHARLES McGRATH is the former editor of The New York Times Book Review and former deputy editor of The New Yorker. He is currently a writer at large for The New York Times.