About John Irving
John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942, and he once admitted that he was a 'grim' child. Although he excelled in English at school and knew by the time he graduated that he wanted to write novels, it was not until he met a young Southern novelist named John Yount, at the University of New Hampshire, that he received encouragement. 'It was so simple,' he remembers. 'Yount was the first person to point out that anything I did except writing was going to be vaguely unsatisfying.'
Irving has had a life-long passion for wrestling, and he plays a wrestling referee in the film of The World According to Garp. In his memoir, The Imaginary Girlfriend, John Irving writes about his life as a wrestler, a novelist and as a wrestling coach. He now writes full-time, has three children and lives in Vermont and Toronto.
Irving has had a life-long passion for wrestling, and he plays a wrestling referee in the film of The World According to Garp. In his memoir, The Imaginary Girlfriend, John Irving writes about his life as a wrestler, a novelist and as a wrestling coach. He now writes full-time, has three children and lives in Vermont and Toronto.
Novels
Setting Free the Bears (1968)
The Water-Method Man (1972)
The 158-Pound Marriage (1974)
The World According to Garp (1978)
The Hotel New Hampshire (1981)
The Cider House Rules (1985)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (1988)
A Son of the Circus (1994)
A Widow for One Year (1998)
The Fourth Hand (2001)
Until I Find You (2005)
Last Night in Twisted River (2009)
The Water-Method Man (1972)
The 158-Pound Marriage (1974)
The World According to Garp (1978)
The Hotel New Hampshire (1981)
The Cider House Rules (1985)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (1988)
A Son of the Circus (1994)
A Widow for One Year (1998)
The Fourth Hand (2001)
Until I Find You (2005)
Last Night in Twisted River (2009)
Omnibus
Collections
Picture Books
Non fiction
Books about John Irving
Understanding John Irving (1991) by Edward C Reilly
John Irving: a Critical Companion (1998) by Josie P Campbell
John Irving (Modern Critical Views) (2000) by Harold Bloom
John Irving: a Critical Companion (1998) by Josie P Campbell
John Irving (Modern Critical Views) (2000) by Harold Bloom
John Irving recommends
The Good Son (1982) Craig Nova "An exquisitely delineated battle between father and son... The structure and the language of this novel are almost without fault." | Monoosook Valley (1989) Elisabeth Hyde "Elisabeth Hyde is a remarkably lucid and authoritative novelist." |
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© 2009 FantasticFiction Bibliography by D C Wands Last Updated:
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