John O’Hara moved to Pittsburgh in May 1933, taking up residence in the William Penn Hotel at the start of what became a legendary summer for the young, spirited writer, who would later publish more than a dozen novels, most of them bestsellers, and become one of The New Yorker’s most important short story writers.
His biographers give only a cursory glance at the summer of 1933. That’s understandable: after all, what is one season out of a life of sixty-five years? And yet the three months were a microcosm of the life of a complicated man, a talented and successful writer who knew well the power of the pen — and the art of burning bridges.
The summer also gave birth to several legends: that his public behavior insulted some of the most renowned names in city society, that a scandal was barely averted when he became involved with a recently married woman, and that he began “Appointment in Samarra” on his typewriter in his William Penn room.
Read the rest of the essay on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette website linked below:
