John O'Hara : a study of the short fiction /

This literate reading of O'Hara's short stories gives one the impression that any story worth commenting on has been commented on. Goldleaf (Pace Univ.) reveals the mystique of writer-celebrity O'Hara, who was close friends with Hemingway and Fitzgerald but whose recognition was never quite on a par with theirs. To suggest a biographical evolution--the published story as an indication of changes in O'Hara's status as his career moved on--the author presents graphs showing O'Hara's output by year and decade, from the 1930s to the 1960s. O'Hara was motivated throughout the period by the theme of social standing but, in the earlier stories and one-column sketches in The New Yorker, he often sought other subject matter as well. Eventually Goldleaf links the decades to demonstrate O'Hara's maturity and later mastery of the form. Parts 2 and 3 of the volume include essays by other critics and other work by O'Hara--letters he wrote and addresses he gave. The bibliography is selective; the index will help those looking for a particular reference; and there is a year-by-year chronology of the stories' publication dates. Undergraduate and advanced collections. A. Hirsh Central Connecticut State University