John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra

Beginning Christmas morning 1930 and ending two days later, the story of Julian English, a thirty-year-old, upper-class businessman, unravels a succession of impulsive actions, fueled by alcohol and wounded dignity, aimed at his wife, a local gangster, and the social elite of Gibbsville-actions that drive him headlong toward an unavoidable fate: an appointment in Samarra.