The Big Laugh

by John O'Hara

A devastating account of the movie world's Golden Age, in all its phony power and glory. The famously sharp-edged social realism and always on-the-money dialogue of the late novelist John O'Hara (1905-1970) are brought to bear in a stinging saga of ambition and fate, Hollywood style.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels

250 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

American writer John Henry O'Hara contributed short stories to the New Yorker and wrote novels, such as BUtterfield 8 (1935) and Ten North Frederick (1955).

Best-selling works of John Henry O'Hara include Appointment in Samarra . People particularly knew him for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue. O'Hara, a keen observer of social status and class differences, wrote frequently about the socially ambitious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O&#...

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fran Lebowitz has called this lesser-known, late-career O'Hara entry "The greatest Hollywood novel ever written."

There's something in that; it has a nuts-and-bolts authenticity. All of the characters ring true - though, among theater and movie-types, O'Hara pulls more from the unsavory. But that's kind of what he tends to do.

Early on, you may start to think you're reading a riff on Schulberg's 'What Makes Sammy Run?' but, as things develop, you'll notice the author's interest in how people can change and grow (some of the time).

There's a real emphasis here on (often crackling) dialogue - with just enough narrative in-between convos to keep you abreast of where you are in the characters' lives.

It's probably not among O'Hara's best work but fans will still find much in it to appreciate. It's a quick read.

[Mark Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading John O’Hara’s short story collection, John O’Hara’s Hollywood earlier this year, I decided to dive into his novel about Hollywood, 1962’s The Big Laugh. O’Hara was one of the most successful American writers of his generation, coming to prominence with his masterpiece of a first novel, Appointment in Samarra, published in 1934. O’Hara remained a best-selling author until his death in 1970. O’Hara is well-known for his superb short stories, and he holds what is probably an unbreakable record for the most short stories published in The New Yorker: 247.

The Big Laugh is not one of John O’Hara’s major books. It’s well-written, but the narrative isn’t that compelling. Like his short stories about Hollywood from the 1960’s, it is set in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and is heavily dialogue-driven, with a somewhat meandering plot. In 1961 O’Hara published a book of five plays, unimaginatively titled Five Plays, which might help explain his love of dialogue-heavy stories from around this time. Much like Tom Wolfe, O’Hara was an avid chronicler of the social status signifiers of his era. O’Hara would be able to tell you exactly what it said about a man if he wore an Arrow shirt with a Phi Beta Kappa key. Because of his keen eye for telling details and social behavior, I think O’Hara would have excelled at the same sort of non-fiction that Tom Wolfe wrote: profiles of notable people, or examinations of trends in popular culture. But O’Hara remained firmly in the fiction camp, and as far as I know, never dove into long-form non-fiction. O’Hara did have a newspaper column at various times in the 1950’s and 1960’s, in which he held forth on the issues of the day. In a column from 1964, O’Hara expressed his opinion that Martin Luther King Jr. should not have received the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s not a column that anyone will be rushing to reprint anytime soon.

Because so many of O’Hara’s greatest works were written during the 1930’s, it feels a bit sad to read a book like The Big Laugh, which is set thirty years in the past. It’s as though O’Hara knows that the 1930’s were really his decade, and rather than analyze the current state of America, he continues to rush into the past to reexamine the time that he knew the best. It makes O’Hara seem out of touch. Which he probably was, judging from his opinion of Martin Luther King Jr.

The Big Laugh tells the story of Hubert Ward, a young man drifting through life who happens to discover that he is good at acting, or at least good enough to become a movie star. The novel follows Hubert’s rise to the top of the film industry. Hubert is an unsympathetic character who is often described as a son of a bitch, which seems about right to me. I never really cared if Hubert was successful or not because he’s so unlikable. I don’t need my leading characters to be paragons of virtue, but they need to at least be interesting, and Hubert really isn’t that interesting. Like a glass of champagne, The Big Laugh goes down smoothly, but doesn’t leave much of an aftertaste.

As I read John O’Hara’s Hollywood, I was intrigued by how O’Hara would use the same characters in different stories. In that book, the actress Doris Arlington appeared in three short stories, and I was glad to find her making an appearance in The Big Laugh as a supporting character. In The Big Laugh she’s given more of a distinct personality, as a savvy, career-driven actress who is a blunt dispenser of truths. She’s more interesting and more likable than Hubert, so maybe O’Hara should have made her the main character of The Big Laugh.

[Nick Baam · Rating 4 out of 5]

You want to get an idea of the true wealth of a person, check out the furniture on the third floor. You want to gauge the full talents of a gifted writer, check out his or her lesser-known works. For John O'Hara, that would be the novel The Big Laugh. It is pitch-perfect from the first word to the last, all descriptions and characters and dialogue. And hard to imagine a more honestly-drawn character than Hubert Ward. But then so are many of the others (you want to gauge the full talent of a gifted writer, check out his walk-ons), especially the women, Doris Arlington especially. The way she and Ward treat sex -- as no differently than greenlighting a script. What would the box office be? The relationship between Hubie and wife Nina; they get married in much the same way Hubie and Doris don't have sex. With little emotion. Very interesting and intelligent novel.

[Saint · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be the only book of O’Hara’s I don’t have in my collection, a couple shelves full, inherited from my dad, O’Hara’s stepson. The authenticity comes from O’Hara’s experiences writing in Hollywood in the 1930’s. He even appeared in a film called The General Died At Dawn, starring Gary Cooper. The novel is surely based on the people he met at parties and on studio lots .

[James Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you start your novel with a long speech about how this story is about the reformation of a jerk, you’re immediately setting expectations for the audience. O’Hara delivers in the beginning: the first third highlighting the rise of this young man, Hubert Ward, from spoiled rich boy somehow turning a con job into a career on the stage is juicy enough to immediately hook you. The character is an asshole, no bones about it, and it’s fun to see how low he will sink to get to the next point. But once he becomes a large Hollywood star, O’Hara replaces the action with endless dialogue that doesn’t have the impact he thinks it does. Ward is, ostensibly, still a jerk but it’s so subtle that it never really lands. I spent most of the second part trying to figure out what exactly I’m supposed to object to. It dilutes the power of his supposed redemption and taming in the third part. He’s been boring for the last 100 pages, what has changed since then? This is one of those stories where I suspect the author had a fascination with this character in his head and understood the arc theoretically but none of it really translates well to the page. This might have worked better as a play but who would want to watch a lot of this endless blather about nothing?

[Jon Zelazny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bailing on page 75, before this Hollywood novel even gets to Hollywood. For the guy who wrote APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA, this reads more like Harold Robbins.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might have been hot stuff when it was published in 1962, but today, not so much. John O'Hara turns in an interesting picture of the rise of a young man from nere-do-well to famous actor in the early days of film. It presents an authentic picture of the life and mores of that time among the film colony in Hollywood. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone that wants the flavor of life in the '30s-'50 in America. It reminded me of Mad Men.

[Gopal Krishan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writer,deals with life of Hollywood actors n their inner circle.Persuit for money & fame.

[Remy Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

O'Hara fails to make evocative the main character and without that, the book falls into boredom and uninteresting story telling. There are many better books about Hollywood and its immorality.

[Steve Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first O'Hara novel. I just finished reading it today.
I’ll likely read another soon.
I really liked it. He strips away the glitter shell of Hollywood to reveal the hollow reality within.
The novel is dialogue heavy with a kind of lack of commentary about what the characters are thinking, but ultimately that is fine. It kinda reads like a text screenplay. The dialogue is very good,
I bought it for $3 at the cheaper book outside rack at The Strand NYC. Good investment.

The movie business is an odd cultural/business/entertainment mashup. Without stating it directly, even back 60 years ago O’Hara sets up the question: Why are these people, this business, so honored and their “entertainment” products given so much attention. Why are the “stars” so revered and the products, more or less all produced to make money, demanding of so much attention? Even now 120 years after the new technological wonder of moving pictures, it is somewhat troubling that this industry is so powerful and central in the minds and hearts of so many of us.
Is it part of the tragedy of centralization of big business, viral capitalism? Or just all in fun and don’t we love our “stars”. I kind of hate that moving image so easily became the dominant method of storytelling. I still love the novel over cinema/TV, hence I read this one and I’m on to the next one.

[Dan Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s an excellent and unjustifiably obscure “later O’Hara” set mostly in early 1930s Hollywood. The first ninety or so pages cover our very-anti hero’s early days as a blackballed black sheep son of a “nice” WASP New Jersey family, his falling into acting in summer theatre on Cape Cod, his rapid success on Broadway. He hears the siren call of the good money of the movies, and heads west, and in a few years becomes a Robert Montgomery-style star. As usual with O’Hara the characters are presented warts and all, and they all have at least a few warts, but also as usual with O’Hara he does not judge, and characters like a crass studio head or the actor’s dollars-and-cents agent, or the bi-sexual stage director who "discovers" our roguish protagonist (who would all be caricatures in anyone else’s book or movie) become as human as anyone else. No heroes, no villains, just human beings in the Hollywood that O’Hara apparently knew all too well...

[John Millard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Fran

[Bradthad Codgeroger · Rating 2 out of 5]

A deeply cynical look at the golden age of Hollywood and the American libido. No one comes off well, especially Johnny.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a big John O'Hara fan, I was surprised that I hadn't read this before. It's the most explicit language-wise of any of his I've read. It must be about a real person but, I can't find out who it is. It held my interest throughout. It contains lots of O'Hara's famous dialogue. It's not my favorite.

[Nancy Thomas]

John O-Hara wrote some great books. Don't think this was one of them. None of the characters had any endearing qualities. And the ending? I thought something might wrap up the story in a clearer manner. Oh, my....