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When I have a writing deadline approaching, you'll probably find me in the kitchen. It's horrible, I know, but when I work with a deadline, I tend... Continue »
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Butterfield 8 (Modern Library Classics)

by John O'Hara

Butterfield 8 (Modern Library Classics) Cover

ISBN13: 9780812966985
ISBN10: 0812966988
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.
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About the Author

John O'Hara was born in 1905. He published his first novel, Appointment in Samarra, before he was thirty. He wrote fourteen novels, including Pal Joey, A Rage to Live, and Ten North Frederick, for which he won the National Book Award. John O'Hara died in 1970.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
daniel_angulo_1, October 2, 2006 (view all comments by daniel_angulo_1)
The human condition is one that doesn't improve with technology. As inspired and relevant today as it was when it was written this story comments not only on social norms and stigma, but on the tragedy of forbidden affairs. When physical and emotional ties are cut by the silent laws of society the weak fall prey to the one thing that promises to comfort them...love. In a world that moves faster and becomes more artificial each day one can't help but relate to this tale of woe, it is the tale of anyone who has ever ventured to seek there authentic hearts desire and not a status symbol that has been imagined for them.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780812966985
Publisher:
Modern Library
Subject:
General
Introduction by:
Lebowitz, Fran
Introduction:
Lebowitz, Fran
Author:
O'Hara, John
Author:
Lebowitz, Fran
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Modern Library Classics
Publication Date:
20030431
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
256
Dimensions:
8.16x5.22x.53 in. .41 lbs.
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Butterfield 8 (Modern Library Classics)
0 stars - 0 reviews
$ In Stock
Product details 256 pages Modern Library - English 9780812966985 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A man who knows exactly what he is writing about and has written it marvelously well."
"Review" by , "Like Henry James, O'Hara could create a world where class and social strictures are all-important but not openly discussed."
"Synopsis" by , 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.
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