The Instrument

The central figure of John O'Hara's new novel is Robert Yancey (Yank) Lucas, playwright, a man of talent, wholly dedicated to and driven by his art. The story begins with his conquest of Broadway and presents a vivid picture of the world of the theater seen from the inside--the complicated machinery of producing and launching a major play, with numerous incompatible personalities who must combine to make it succeed. When the moment of success comes, it does not satisfy Yank Lucas. Years of preparing and self-deprivation have led to this point, but the triumph now seems somehow too easy; the praise and adulation, oppressive. He walks away from his success, and from Zena Gollum, the star of his play who loves and needs him. His destination is not the little town he accidentally comes to, or any other place, but his next play. In East Hammond, Vermont, surrounded by new people--who do not, however, remain new for long--he writes the new play. When it is finished, so are East Hammond and its inhabitants, but not before many aspects of the complex character of Yank Lucas have become clearer to him and to the reader. The Instrument is one of John O'Hara's finest novels. The portrayal of Yank Lucas is, in itself, a brilliant achievement, but the reality of this character is the product of his relationships with the great variety of others who are needed to develop the intricate story. In this novel, they cannot properly be called minor, for all have been fashioned with extraordinary skill and economy into full-bodied, memorable individuals.