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约翰·奥哈拉(John O' hara,1905-1970)是美国著名小说家。他生于宾夕法尼亚州的波茨维尔，中学毕业后父亲去世，就离家出走，开始独立的生活。他东奔西走，经过广泛的旅行之后，终于在纽约市当上记者，撰写文艺批评，短篇小说作品常常出现在著名杂志《纽约人》，此外还为好莱坞和百老汇改编电影和戏剧，如音乐喜剧《好友乔依》（1940年）。从第一部长篇《在萨马拉的约会》（1934）到死后出版的短篇小说集《萨马拉好人及其他小说》（1974），他的作品是20世纪20—40年代积极上进的美国社会史，以对20世纪美国生活习俗和价值的敏锐目光而著称。作为现实主义作家，他的风格是客观的，实事求是的。 John O'hara to His Daughter TLS,1 p.Mrs. Doughty Quogue, Long Island 16 September 1962, Sunday My dear: Well, here we are — but not here. You at St. Tim's, Sister in Princeton, and me in Quogue, and another brand new year is about to start for you. For me, too. I always seem to approach the autumn in the frame of mind that spring induces in most people. The excitement of new things; the new plays, the new books, new clothes, etc., etc., etc. At the same time the autumn for me is a season of a sweet melancholy that is hard to explain. I love the early evenings, the leaves burning, the lights in houses. | 
