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| BUtterfield 8 (Modern Library Classics) | 
| Author: John O'hara
Creator: Fran Lebowitz
Publisher: Modern Library
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $1.63
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 275328
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0812966988
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780812966985
ASIN: 0812966988
Publication Date: April 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Standard used condition.
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
a slice of New York City circa 1931; fascinating November 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The novel 'Butterfield 8' is nothing like its film adaptation. The book is a rather gritty account of a confused and trashy socialite who has a fling with a wealthy man which, ultimately, brings them both down. The story itself doesn't cover new ground, and the characterizations, while realistic, are not particularly engaging (or likable). However I found the realism of the dialogue and the capturing of the essence of New York City during the early Depression years to be utterly fascinating. I got far more out of it than any sort of movie during that era could deliver. For example, the entire underworld of speakeasies and how they operate is something rarely told about. But in 'Butterfield 8' the author goes into expert detail whilst combing it into the narrative.
Bottom line: forget the story, read it for the historical perspective
 No Sale November 8, 2008
Forget the candy-colored 60's film with Elizabeth Taylor and Lawrence Harvey entirely -- this novel positively exhales the smoky, bathtub ginny black-and-white breath of the 30's. This is a gritty slice of The Depression, micro and macro, as lived by a little group of formerly comfortably well-off New Yorkers involved with an unfortunate girl named Gloria Wandrous. Too young to have been a flapper, Gloria has spent nearly every hour of her teens in speakeasies, getting drunk and sleeping with men old enough to be her father. The sad tragectory of the sexually abused is detailed here, as the 12 year old Gloria is obscurely molested by a family friend, then seduced at 15 by an ether-sniffing school teacher. The novel begins with Gloria waking in a man's apartment after having been practically raped by him the night before. Her dress is torn, and she takes a fur coat from his wife's closet to wear home. She also takes the money he leaves her (while Elizabeth Taylor proudly wrote "No Sale" in lipstick on the mirror, yeah, sure). She buys a bottle of booze to share with her friend Eddie, a former rich college boy whom she met when he was working as an elevator operator in a whorehouse. Fear of venereal disease enables him to remain "just friends" with the lovely Gloria, while the dress-render, a sour rich middle-aged serial adulterer who gets frequent check-ups from his doctor, becomes obsessed. He follows Gloria to a speakeasy, where they swap some shrug-shouldered 30's slang, get drunk, and end up in a screaming fight. Of course, it's true love. Believe me this all does not end well. It's interesting enough as a literary artifact of the times, but I found these people unpleasant and kind of stupid, in spite of the earnest breeziness John O'Hara's writing. Fran Leibowitz's foreward calls it a "guy's book" and it's true. Gloria's psychic wounds are vivid, yet the rest of her life is poorly realized. She exists as a sad example of something, not as a whole person, and that's a drag. On second thought, maybe I'd rather watch the movie.
 Caged, I Need a Speakeasy, Bad... August 15, 2008
Of course, John O'Hara did not picture Liz Taylor in 1935 as Gloria in the Butterfield 8 movie, the wild young lady in Depression America, but certainly someone like her, intense, stylish, bosomy and oh-so-clever with men.
But, then, Gloria had been molested, and carefully taught, and O'Hara must have known a few these girls back when he was 29 and starting out with his writing, his cataloguing, of facts, steamships, cabbies, bars, bar stools and men hang-dogging around, stifled by marriage, and almost as angry as Bill Maher now, in one of his stand-up harrangues against the cages we call marriage in 2008.
And O'Hara saw it all, the dalliances, the provocative banter, the mink coats, the anger and revenge, and more.
But accidental death catches up to many, particularly those who imbibe too much, love too much, and expect a happy ending in their lives, when "whoof" it's gone totally.
But who speaks up for those wives who trap husbands so unsuitable for much, and who braves the rancid air of speakeasies to "shoosh" these erring men home to wives who sit or nap or practice their bridge games?
Who, indeed, but John O'Hara, himself coming home from a roaring drunk to insult his wife and have another drink.
FRESH AS THE DAY IT WAS PUBLISHED! July 9, 2007
I can't add much to the wonderful customer reviews that come before mine, except to say that I highly recommend this riveting book. I just reread my copy (I first read it when I was 16 [!] and I'm 56 now) and my life experiences have tremendously enhanced my appreciation for the work of that brilliant word-spinner, John O'Hara. Forget the Oscar-winning Elizabeth Taylor movie, which was not filmed as a period piece, but in contemporary 1960 surroundings. This book simply reeks of 1930s New York atmosphere (not that I was there, but I'm a native New Yorker) and the movie makers did the novel a disservice by not retaining the speakeasy flavor of the original. If you're thinking about buying this book, do so immediately; it's a real treat!
Real characters living in a real world June 19, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Those who have found John O'Hara through "Appointment in Samarra" and simply felt in love with his work -- just like me -- won't be disappointed with his "BUtterfield 8". This time around, this magnificent writer touches the same issues of this debut but from another focus. And this time the protagonist is a girl, Gloria Wandrous.
"BUtterfield 8" was inspired by a real incident. The body of a beautiful and young woman was found in a Long Island beach. Nobody ever knew whether this was an accident, a murder or a suicide. O'Hara ignites from this news to tell this story of a girl who leads an erratic life filled with booze, love and fun. Gloria is this young woman. The writer unveils her existence from the beginning.
In the first paragraphs we meet Gloria in the apartment of a `strange' men -- strange meaning she doesn't know a lot of him. She is alone there and has time to walk around and examine his house. While she does it, O'Hara smartly introduces to his reader not only Gloria but also the apartment's owner, Liggett, is discovered. As the text moves, we can learn about the couple and what had happened that led them to this morning. As Gloria leaves his apartment, she takes something with her. This item will be in the center of the action until the end of the novel.
In the next few paragraphs, O'Hara introduces a couple of characters that however not important to the central narrative, they make an appealing and large mural of the middle upper class in New York City in the 30s. His descriptions are full of life and energy. The form one character run into each other is casual and smart.
As the narrative moves forward, we learn more about Gloria and her friends. But we also discover about Liggett and his family. Nevertheless, she is the main character and the one who has more background. The use of flashbacks is quite useful to show what lead Gloria to become what she is. At the same time, O'Hara doesn't `psychologize' his character. He doesn't try to find psychotic explanations to who she is. Neither social reason is brought up. Gloria is what she is -- period.
This device enhances the narrative, and brings the character closer to the reader. Gloria and her friends -- and lovers, as well -- are regular human beings, leading a complex existence, just like everyone else. This is exactly what O'Hara did in his "Appointment in Samarra", bring to real existence people that in the hand of lesser talented writers would like just like book characters.
Their dramas, fears, anxieties and joys are just like everybody else's. The fact that they have a `different' life is just a detail. O'Hara's creation moves in a real world, what he does is to show them to us. Judging these people or not is up to any reader -- not to the writer.
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