No one, over three decades, has worked this seam with more zest and glee than John Irving. Brilliant, funny, and consistently wise a work of vast talent * NEW REPUBLIC *Īmerican fiction dotes on its plucky rebel kids - those clear-eyed but big-hearted outsiders and vagabonds who from Twain to Salinger, and far beyond, light out for the territory of a hard-won liberty. Irving's blend of gravity and play is unique, audacious, almost blasphemous. Nothing in contemporary fiction matches it. Irving's characters will stay alive for years to come * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * fascinatingly unique * NEW YORK TIMES *Ī social tragi-comedy of such velocity that it reads rather like a domestic sequel to Catch-22 * OBSERVER *Ī brilliant panoply of current attitudes toward sex, marriage and parenthood, the feminist movement and - above all - the concept of delineated sexual roles. You know his mother long before he was born and you witness the incredible and somewhat disturbing story of his conception. The World According to Garp is a huge narrative full of complex emotional rollercoasters typical of a writer's life. a marvellous, important, permanent novel by a serious artist of remarkable powers * CHICAGO TIMES *Ī wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and heartbreaking.

Like all extraordinary books, Garp defies synopsis. The most powerful and profound novel about women written by a man in our generation. Like all great works of art, Irving's novel seems always to have been there, a diamond sleeping in the dark, chipped out at last for our enrichment and delight.As approachable as it is brilliant, Garp pulses with vital energy * COSMOPOLITAN * ' - The Observer (London) 'A large talent announces itself on practically. Irving's characters will stay alive for years to come.'. Absolutely extraordinary.a roller-coaster ride that leaves one breathless, exhausted, elated and tearful * LA TIMES * The most powerful and profound novel about women written by a man in our generation. The World According to Garp Los Angeles Times 'A brilliant panoply of current attitudes toward sex, marriage and parenthood, the feminist movement and-above all-the concept of delineated sexual roles.

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