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First published in Penguin Books 2013

Copyright © John O’Hara, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966

Copyright © United States Trust Company of New York, as executor of and trustee under the will of John O’Hara, 1972, 1974

Introduction copyright © Steven Goldleaf, 2013

Foreword copyright © E. L. Doctorow, 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

E. L. Doctorow’s foreword appeared in Selected Short Stories by John O’Hara (Vintage Books, London). Published by arrangement with The Random House Group Limited, London.

These stories appeared in the following books by John O’Hara: “Frankie,” “Pleasure,” “The Public Career of Mr. Seymour Harrisburg,” and “Sportmanship” in The Doctor’s Son (Harcourt, Brace, 1935); “Good-bye, Herman” and “Portistan on the Portis” in Files on Parade (Harcourt, Brace, 1939); “Bread Alone” in Pipe Night (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1945); “Ellie” and “A Phase of Life” in Hellbox (Random House, 1947); “We’re Friends Again” in Sermons and Soda-water (Random House, 1960); “Call Me, Call Me,” “First Day in Town,” and “It’s Mental Work” in Assembly (Random House, 1961); “The Nothing Machine,” “The Sun-Dodgers,” “The Women of Madison Avenue,” and “Your Fah Neefah Neeface” in The Cape Cod Lighter (Random House, 1962); “Agatha” and “John Barton Rosedale, Actor’s Actor” in The Hat on the Bed (Random House, 1963); “The Brain” and “Can I Stay Here?” in The Horse Knows the Way (Random House, 1964); “The Assistant,” “Late, Late Show,” “The Portly Gentleman,” “The Tackle,” and “The Weakling” in Waiting for Winter (Random House, 1966); “The Private People” in And Other Stories (Random House, 1968); “At the Cothurnos Club,” “Encounter: 1943,” “Family Evening,” and “Memorial Fund” in The Time Element (Random House, 1972); and “Harrington and Whitehill” in Good Samaritan (Random House, 1974). Some of these selections were originally published in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Esquire, The New Yorker, The Saturday Evening Post, and Sports Illustrated.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

O’Hara, John, 1905–1970.

[Short stories. Selections]

The New York stories / John O’Hara ; edited with an introduction by Steven Goldleaf ; foreword by E. L. Doctorow.

pages ; cm.—(Penguin classics)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-698-13625-0

I. Goldleaf, Steven. II. O’Hara, John, 1905–1970. Agatha. III. Title.

PS3529.H29N49 2013

813'. 52—dc23 2013013890

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.