The writer John O'Hara (1905-1970) came from Pottsville in Pennsylvania. He put his home town
and the surrounding vicinity under a microscope to produce an account of 'The Anthracite
Region' that rivals Edith Wharton's descriptions of New York and Sinclair Lewis's anatomy of
Sauk Centre. With the discerning eye of a local resident O'Hara recreated this coal-rich
region and its people so well that his novelettes novellas novels plays and short stories
give a true record of his 'Pennsylvania Protectorate' in the latter part of the nineteenth
century and the first half of the twentieth century. In order to reveal the ethnographical
geographical and historical authenticity of the O'Hara Canon this book examines his writings
in the context of Pottsville and the borough of Tamaqua as well as the nearby towns and
villages. The author also investigates both O'Hara's genteel upbringing and his gangster
stratum. The book explores the many dimensions of O'Hara's life from the time of his birth
until his escape to New York City in 1928. New sources such as unpublished letters and
interviews with O'Hara's family friends and enemies provide important insights into O'Hara as
well as into Pottsville and the surrounding region.
