Appointment in Samarra by O'Hara, John - 1934

New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1934 First edition, first printing, with the publisher's errata slip. Publisher's black cloth, lettered in lemon yellow; in the original first issue pictorial dust jacket designed by Alfred Maurer, priced at $2.50 and with "Recent Fiction" to the rear panel, with the iconic deco design of a car driving through a hilled landscape in green, yellow and black, lettered in yellow and black. About very good, with soiling to the cloth, a slight lean to the spine, some faint spotting to the page edges, some minor soiling to the endpapers, otherwise clean interior; unclipped dust jacket, with loss to the spine ends, closed tears to the spine and front flap fold, some wear and minor chipping to the extremities, light toning to the spine, a few minor scuffs to the otherwise bright panels. Overall, a very sturdy and presentable copy of O'Hara's first novel. Appointment in Samarra tells the tragic story of protagonist Julian English as he delves into a downward spiral of self-destruction. Like the fast-paced plot, which takes place over the course of only three days, O'Hara wrote this novel in an expeditious four months when he was only twenty-eight years old. Although criticized for the candor with which he presented socially taboo sexual encounters, Appointment in Samarra is notable for propelling O'Hara to literary prominence.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Illus. by Maurer, Alfred.