Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara [0]
JOHN O'HARA
With an Afterword by Arthur Mizener
A SIGNET CLASSIC
Published by The New American Library Copyright, 1934, by John O Hara
JOHN O HARA was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 1905, the son of a respected local physician. After graduating from Niagara Preparatory School, he passed his college entrance examinations, but his father s death required that he go to work. After a variety of jobs in Pennsylvania and then in New York, Mr. O Hara published Appointment in Samarra, his first novel, in 1934; this book was clear indication of his penetrating knowledge of American society and the direct factual style that characterizes his work. Though he has spent time in Hollywood and successfully ventured onto Broadway in 1940 to write the book for the musical adaptation of his story Pal Joey, O Hara s literary production has continued unabated over the years. His novels include Butterfield 8 (1935), A Rage to Live (1949), the National Book Award winner Ten North Frederick (1955), From the Terrace (1958), and The Big Laugh (1962). His short-story collections include The Doctor s Son and Other Stories (1935), Assembly (1960), and The Cape Cod Lighter (1962). At present, Mr. O Hara lives near Princeton, New Jersey, where he continues to write. DEATH SPEAKS: There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and, trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra. W. Somerset Maugham To F.P.A.
CHAPTER 1
OUR STORY opens in the mind of Luther L. (L for LeRoy) Fliegler, who is lying in his bed, not thinking of anything, but just aware of sounds, conscious of his own breathing, and sensitive to his own heartbeats. Lying beside him is his wife, lying on her right side and enjoying her sleep. She has earned her sleep, for it is Christmas morning, strictly speaking, and all the day before she has worked like a dog, cleaning the turkey and baking things, and, until a few hours ago, trimming the tree. The awful proximity of his heartbeats makes Luther Fliegler begin to want his wife a little, but Irma can say no when she is tired. It is too much trouble, she says when she is tired, and she won’t take any chances. Three children is enough; three children in ten years. So Luther Fliegler does not reach out for her. It is Christmas morning, and he will do her the favor of letting her enjoy her sleep; a favor which she will never know he did for her. And it is a favor, all right, because Irma likes Christmas too, and on this one morning she might not mind the trouble, might be willing to take a chance. Luther Fliegler more actively stifled the little temptation and thought the hell with it, and then turned and put his hands around his wife s waist and caressed the little rubber tire of flesh across her diaphragm. She began to stir and then she opened her eyes and said: My God, Lute, what are you doing?
Merry Christmas, he said.
Don t, will you please? she said, but she smiled happily and put her arms around his big back. God. you’re crazy, she said. Oh, but I love you. And for a little while Gibbsville knew no happier people than Luther Fliegler and his wife, Irma. Then Luther went to sleep, and Irma got up and then came