THE JOHN O'HARA SOCIETY

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April 14, publication of My Turn. Random House. A collection of fifty-three syndicated columns written for Newsday from October 3, 1964 through October 21, 1965.

From the jacket (in the author's words):

"Timidity of opinion will get you nowhere, and writing for anyone's approval but your own will get you there fast. So I shall make no effort to present my opinions in equivocal style. You will always know which side I am on....What I intend to offer in these messages are comments on the human race in my time, as seen by my prejudiced eye."

From the jacket (in the publisher's words): "Ranging over an astonishingly wide variety of topics and personalities, his 'prejudiced eye' takes a hard look at politics and (domestic and foreign), education, morality, journalism, writers and writing, movies and television (and their personnel), and a great deal more of the passing show."

From Matthew Bruccoli: "John O'Hara was miscast as a columnist in the Sixties. He had an abundance of material and the courage to express unpopular ideas, but the tone of "My Turn" is defensive and at the same time truculent.....The problem for the reader ... is the inconsistency of tone, almost a violation of decorum, as the columnist mixes issues of high seriousness with personal peeves and even misplaced levity ... in his columns he suspended his self-discipline." The O'Hara Concern, pages 321-322.

I agree with Dr. Bruccoli.