Synopses & Reviews
A bestseller upon its publication in 1935,
Butterfield 8 was inspired by a news account of the discovery of the body of a beautiful young woman washed up on a Long Island beach. Was it an accident, a murder, a suicide? The circumstances of her death were never resolved, but O'Hara seized upon the tragedy to imagine the woman's down-and-out life in New York City in the early 1930s.
O'Hara understood better than any other American writer how class can both reveal and shape character, Fran Lebowitz writes in her Introduction. With brash honesty and a flair for the unconventional, Butterfield 8 lays bare the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked beneath the surface of a society still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. The result is a masterpiece of American fiction.
Review:
"A man who knows exactly what he is writing about and has written it marvelously well." Ernest Hemingway
Review:
"Like Henry James, O'Hara could create a world where class and social strictures are all-important but not openly discussed." The Village Voice
Synopsis:
Originally published in 1935 and an immediate bestseller, "BUtterfield 8" was inspired by a news account of the body of a beautiful woman washing up on a Long Island beach. Her death was never resolved, but O'Hara seized upon the tragedy to imagine her down-and-out life in New York City in the early 1930s.
About the Author
Don't Miss
