The New York Stories, John OHara
The New York Stories, John OHara
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The New York Stories

Author: John O'Hara, Steven Goldleaf, E. L. Doctorow

Narrator: Becky Ann Baker, Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale, Jon Hamm, Richard Kind, Jan Maxwell, Gretchen Mol, Dallas Roberts

Unabridged: 13 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/20/2014

Synopsis

Collected for the first time, the New York stories of John O'Hara, "among the greatest short story writers in English, or in any other language" (Brendan Gill, Here at The New Yorker)

Collected for the first time, here are the New York stories of one of the twentieth century’s definitive chroniclers of the city—the speakeasies and highballs, social climbers and cinema stars, mistresses and powerbrokers, unsparingly observed by a popular American master of realism. Spanning his four-decade career, these more than thirty refreshingly frank, sparely written stories are among John O’Hara’s finest work, exploring the materialist aspirations and sexual exploits of flawed, prodigally human characters and showcasing the snappy dialogue, telling details and ironic narrative twists that made him the most-published short story writer in the history of the New Yorker.

With an introduction by the editor, and a foreword both written and read by E.L. Doctorow.

Narrated by Becky Ann Baker, Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale, Jon Hamm, Richard Kind, Jan Maxwell, Gretchen Mol, and Dallas Roberts

About The Author

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; Pal Joey, which was adapted into a Broadway musical as well as a film starring Frank Sinatra; and Ten North Frederick, which won the National Book Award. He has had more stories published in The New Yorker than anyone else in the history of the magazine. Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, he lived for many years in New York and in Princeton, New Jersey, where he died.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Takumo-N on May 07, 2023

These stories are about has-beens, wannabes, cheaters, hustlers, drunks, people that married into money or at their wits ends and putting everything they've got left into this one oportunity. They're all horrible, out of touch characters. But the dialogue is so compelling and witty that even if you'......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on July 05, 2020

A truly amazing collection of stories by John O'Hara depicting the 1930's through the 1950's in Manhattan... Many stories centering around older Hollywood actors who could not get any more work in films and so rather than be humiliated they move back to New York to work on Broadway or simply to beco......more

Goodreads review by Moesha on May 31, 2022

Need to get away from American Lit for a while because it’s so bloody miserable (but maybe that’s why I keep going back?)......more

Goodreads review by David on March 14, 2018

Continuing my current love affair with Mr. O'Hara. One HELL of a writer! O'Hara wrote hundreds of short stories. Ultimately, they found their way into collections, of course. The one I read recently - Library of America's 'John O'Hara: Stories' - pulled from his entire short story output. But this vo......more

Goodreads review by Patrick on March 27, 2023

These stories set in New York city are about people on the fringes: has-beens, imposters, hustlers, drunks, gold diggers or those who seem to be in a tight spot. These are mostly desperate people looking for one last chance. The stories were written from the 30s to the 60s and notable for the lively......more

Quotes

“You can binge on his collections, the way some people binge on Mad Men, and for some of the same reasons.” —Lorin Stein, editor of The Paris Review

“Don Draper is an O’Hara character if ever there was one. . . . The stories have the tang of genuine observation and reporting. . . . You’re aware of how brilliantly O’Hara uses dialogue to convey exposition, and of how often his people, like Hemingway’s, leave unsaid what is really on their minds. . . . O’Hara [was] a master of the short story . . . The New York anthology . . . is part of a welcome Penguin effort to reissue his work in paperback.” —Charles McGrath, The New York Times Book Review

“An author I love is John O’Hara. . . . I think he’s been forgotten by time, but for dialogue lovers, he’s a goldmine of inspiration.” —Douglas Coupland, Shelf Awareness

"Among the greatest short-story writers in English, or in any other language...  [He helped] to invent what the world came to call The New Yorker short story." —Brendan Gill, Here at The New Yorker

"O'Hara occupies a unique position in our contemporary literature.... He is the only American writer to whom America presents itself as a social scene in the way it once presented itself to Henry James, or France to Proust." —Lionel Trilling, The New York Times

"This is fiction, but it has, for me, the clang of truth." —John Updike

“O’Hara’s eyes and ears have been spared nothing.” —Dorothy Parker

“A writer of dream-sharp tales, crisp yet dense.” —Los Angeles Times

“O’Hara practices the classic form of the modern short story developed by Joyce and perfected by Hemingway. . . . His coverage is worthy of a Balzac.” —E. L. Doctorow, from the Foreword

“Superb . . . The 32 stories inhabit the Technicolor vernaculars of taxi drivers, barbers, paper pushers and society matrons. . . . Undoubtedly, between the 1930s and the 1970s, [O’Hara] was American fiction’s greatest eavesdropper, recording the everyday speech and tone of all strata of midcentury society. . . . What elevates O’Hara above slice-of-life portraitists like Damon Runyon and Ring Lardner is the turmoil glimpsed beneath the vibrant surfaces.” —The Wall Street Journal

“His short stories are gorgeous broken scenes of American life . . . and his style and themes—a bridge, if you will, between F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Updike—remain painfully and beautifully relevant today.” —Huffington Post

 

Awards

  • Audie Awards
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