TWo by O Hara consists of two pre-

viously unpublished works from

John O Hara s most brilliant period,

when he wrote Ten North Frederick,

From the Terrace, and Ourselves to

Know. The Man Who Could Not Lose

(1959), an original screen story, and

FarFrom Heaven (1962), a play, dem-

onstrate thematically and stylistically

the essential features of O Hara s art.

Both works deal with his favorite

theme, the effects of loneliness and

isolation, and both rely on O Hara s

masterful command of dialogue.

The Man Who Could Not Lose is an

original screen story in the form of a

skeletal novel, which was commis-

sioned by Twentieth Century-Fox but

never made into a movie. The title

character is Martin Ziegler, one of the

world s most brilliant financiers, who

lives in self-imposed exile after steal-

ing some four million dollars from

American investors. His exile pro-

vides him with an edge in his busi-

ness dealings: Ziegler prefers to

operate without regard for politics,

patriotism, or friendship and se-

quentially serves as financial adviser

to the governments of Mussolini,