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John Henry O'Hara (31 January 1905 - 11 April 1970) was an American writer. Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, he initially made a name for himself with his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8 . He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue. O'Hara was a keen observer of social status and class differences, and wrote frequently about the socially ambitious. A controversial figure, his reputation for cataloging social ephemera and his personal irascibility frequently overshadowed his gifts as a storyteller. Writer Fran Lebowitz called him "the real F. Scott Fitzgerald." [ citation needed ] John Updike, one of his consistent supporters, grouped him with Chekhov in a recent C-Span interview. [ citation needed ] Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times dismissed him as "a well-known lout."
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