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Look Inside | Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Jun 23, 1997 | ISBN 9780345418012 Buy
Nov 03, 1990 | ISBN 9780345366764 Buy *This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program
Apr 20, 1998 | ISBN 9780679603061 Buy
Also available from:
Jun 23, 1997 | ISBN 9780345418012
Nov 03, 1990 | ISBN 9780345366764
Apr 20, 1998 | ISBN 9780679603061
This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields, a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes, even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with lunacy and sorrow, yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries–with more than ten million copies in print–this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: “In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.”
New York Times bestseller – 20th anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author — “A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and horrifying and heartbreaking.”- The Washington PostThis is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields–a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes–even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with ”lunacy and sorrow”; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries– with more than ten million copies in print–this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: ”In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.”Praise for The World According to Garp“John Irving, it is abundantly clear, is a true artist.” – 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… Irving’s characters will stay alive for years to come.” – Chicago Tribune“A social tragi-comedy of such velocity that it reads rather like a domestic sequel to Catch-22.” – The Observer (London)“A large talent announces itself on practically every page.” – The Book-of-the-Month Club News
The World According to Garp is a comic and compassionate coming-of-age novel that established John Irving as one of the most imaginative writers of his generation. A worldwide bestseller since its publication in 1978, Irving’s classic is filled with stories inside stories about the life and times of T. S. Garp, novelist and bastard son of Jenny Fields–a feminist leader ahead of her time. Beyond that, The World According to Garp virtually defies synopsis.—-"Nothing in contemporary fiction matches it," said critic Terrence Des Pres. "Irving’s blend of gravity and play is unique, audacious, almost blasphemous. . . . Friendship, marriage and family are his primary themes, but at that blundering level of life where mishap and folly–something close to joyful malice–perpetually intrude and disrupt, often fatally. Life, in Irving’s fiction, is always under siege." Time magazine commented: "Irving’s popularity is not hard to understand. His world is really the world according to nearly everyone."—-This Modern Library edition includes a new Introduction by the author.The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editons of impor-tant works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library’s seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoringas its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world’s best books, at the best prices.
JOHN IRVING, born in Exeter, New Hampshire, published his first novel, Setting Free the Bears, when he was twenty-six. His most popular novel, worldwide, is A Prayer for Owen Meany, published in 1989. In 2000, Mr. Irving won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The… More about John Irving
“The most powerful and profound novel about women written by a man in our generation . . . Like all extraordinary books, Garp defies synopsis. . . . A marvelous, important, permanent novel by a serious artist of remarkable powers.”—Chicago Sun-Times“Nothing in contemporary fiction matches it. . . . Irving’s blend of gravity and play is unique, audacious, almost blasphemous. . . . Brilliant, funny, and consistently wise; a work of vast talent.”—The New Republic“A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and horrifying and heartbreaking.”—Washington Post
One summer during college, long before I was even thinking of a career in book publishing, I picked up The World According to Garp, and would sit in my beach chair, totally absorbed, as I followed the exploits of Jenny Fields and her son Garp. It is books like this that ultimately motivated me to pursue a career in books.This novel was (and still is) so fresh, imaginative, clever, seductive and mesmerizing that for every summer after that I would re-read Garp ( and I hate to re-read books). Nothing else could compare.–Maureen O’Neal
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