Appointment in Samarra

Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara is a troubling, fast-paced, funny, and thoroughly engaging read. It takes place among the upper classes in the American 1920's and is easy to compare to F. Scott Fitzgerald's work, notably "Winter Dreams." O'Hara doesn't write with the beautiful, poetic sheen of Fitzgerald; the novel is at times clunky or obvious. But Appointment in Samarra is more realistic than "Winter Dreams," and much more in-depth. The plot developments are surprising, yet believable, and I was genuinely unsettled by the decisions of Julian English, the protagonist. 

I'd first encountered Julian English in Joan Didion's essay "On Self-Respect." In that fine essay, she compares English's lack of self-respect to Jordan Baker's (from Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby) possession of it. It took most of the text for me to see what Didion meant. English and Baker both careen through life carelessly and selfishly. On the outside, they are both immoral and worthy of contempt. But throughout Appointment in Samarra, we see how English implodes from his behavior, while Baker maintains her cool detachment from the effects of her conduct on others. Julian English's inability to own up to his actions--his lack of self-respect--is ultimately the most destructive force in the novel.