The Cider House Rules

“Witty, tenderhearted, fervent, and scarifying . . . This novel is an example, now rare, of the courage of imaginative ardor.”—The New York Times Book Review

“[Irving] is among the very best storytellers at work today. At the base of Irving’s own moral concerns is a rare and lasting regard for human kindness.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Superb in scope and originality, a novel as good as one could hope to find from any author, anywhere, anytime. Engrossing, moving, thoroughly satisfying.”—Joseph Heller

“An old-fashioned, big-hearted novel . . . with its epic yearning caught in the nineteenth century, somewhere between Trollope and Twain . . . The rich detail makes for vintage Irving.”—Boston Sunday Globe

“Entertaining and affecting . . . John Irving is the most relentlessly inventive writer around. . . . A truly astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity.”—The San Diego Union

“Clearly Irving’s best-made book and a book of importance. It is a tour de force, a heavyweight among books, as John Irving must be accounted among writers. . . . He accomplishes his feat with both humanity and wisdom. . . . A moving, sometimes hilarious, and unfailingly entertaining story.”—St. Petersburg Times

“With each new novel John Irving displays widening of compass. . . . It is the breadth and spread, the depth of characterization that lift this novel beyond anything that Irving has done before. . . . This may be a novel of Maine, but it carries a far wider meaning.”—John Barkham Reviews

“Irving is in top form in this capacious novel of personal discovery. . . . Deft realism in both scene and characterization . . . The Cider House Rules is a mature, entertaining novel.”—Library Journal