John Irving

:This article is about the author. For the billionaire, see John E. Irving

Career

Irving's career began at the age of 26 with the publication of his first novel, Setting Free the Bears. The novel was reasonably well reviewed, but failed to garner much of an audience. His second and third novels, The Water-Method Man and The 158-Pound Marriage, were similarly received. Frustrated at the lack of promotion his novels were garnering from his first publisher, Random House, Irving chose to offer his fourth novel, The World According to Garp (1978), to Dutton, which promised him a stronger marketing push. The novel went on to become a massive international bestseller and cultural phenomenon, and was a finalist for the American Book Award (now the National Book Award) for hardcover fiction in 1979 (the award went to Tim O'Brien for Going After Cacciato). Garp won the National Book Foundation's award for paperback fiction the following year. Garp was later made into a film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robin Williams in the title role and Glenn Close as his mother; it garnered several Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Close and John Lithgow. Irving makes a brief cameo in the film as an official in one of Garp's high school wrestling matches. Irving also has a cameo appearance in the film version of The Cider House Rules as a train station agent.

Related Topics:
Setting Free the Bears - The Water-Method Man - The 158-Pound Marriage - Random House - The World According to Garp - 1978 - Dutton - American Book Award - National Book Award - Tim O'Brien - Going After Cacciato - National Book Foundation - George Roy Hill - Robin Williams - Glenn Close - Academy Award - John Lithgow - The Cider House Rules

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The importance of Garp

Garp transformed Irving from an obscure, academic literary writer to a household name, guaranteeing bestseller status for all of his subsequent books. He followed "Garp" with The Hotel New Hampshire(1981), which was poorly received by critics but sold well and, like Garp, was quickly made into a film, this time directed by Tony Richardson and starring Jodie Foster, Rob Lowe, and Beau Bridges.

Related Topics:
The Hotel New Hampshire - 1981 - Tony Richardson - Jodie Foster - Rob Lowe - Beau Bridges

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In 1985 he published The Cider House Rules, a sprawling epic centered around a Maine orphanage. The novel frankly explores the controversial subject of abortion, and is perhaps the most obvious example of the influence of Charles Dickens on Irving's work. He followed in 1989 with A Prayer for Owen Meany, another New England family epic centered around themes of religiousness. Again, the main setting is a New England boarding school, and inspirations for the characters can be found in many of Irving's influences, including The Tin Drum by Günter Grass, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the work of Dickens. For the first time, Irving examined the consequences of the Vietnam War - particularly mandatory conscription, which Irving avoided since he was already a married father and a teacher when the draft was instituted. Owen Meany became Irving's bestselling book since Garp, and is now a frequent feature on high school English reading lists.

Related Topics:
1985 - The Cider House Rules - Abortion - Charles Dickens - 1989 - A Prayer for Owen Meany - The Tin Drum - Günter Grass - The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vietnam War - Mandatory conscription

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Irving returned to Random House for his next book, A Son of the Circus (1995). Arguably his most complicated and difficult book, it was dismissed by critics but became a national bestseller on the strength of Irving's reputation for fashioning literate, engrossing page-turners. Irving returned to better form in 1998 with A Widow for One Year, which was named a New York Times Notable Book. The Fourth Hand, was published in 2001. Savaged by critics, it nevertheless became a bestseller. Irving's most recent novel, entitled Until I Find You was released on July 12, 2005.

Related Topics:
Random House - A Son of the Circus - 1995 - 1998 - A Widow for One Year - New York Times - The Fourth Hand - 2001 - Until I Find You - July 12 - 2005

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On June 28, 2005, The New York Times published an article http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/books/28irvi.html?ex=1277611200&en=46d52e9110df3f55&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss revealing that Until I Find You contains two specifically personal elements about his life that he has never before discussed publicly: his sexual abuse, at age 11, by an older woman, and the recent entrance in his life of his biological father's family.

Related Topics:
June 28 - 2005 - The New York Times - Until I Find You

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In 1999, after nearly ten years in development, Irving's screenplay for The Cider House Rules was made into a film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Michael Caine, Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Delroy Lindo. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and earned Irving an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Related Topics:
1999 - The Cider House Rules - Lasse Hallström - Michael Caine - Tobey Maguire - Charlize Theron - Delroy Lindo - Academy Awards - Academy Award

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Since the publication of "Garp" made him independently wealthy, Irving has been able to concentrate solely on fiction writing as a vocation, sporadically accepting short-term teaching positions (including one at his graduate school alma mater, the Iowa Writer's Workshop) and serving as an assistant coach on his sons' high school wrestling teams. In addition to his novels, he has also published Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, a collection including a brief memoir and unpublished short fiction, and My Movie Business, an account of the protracted process of bringing The Cider House Rules to the big screen. He divides his time between residences in Vermont, Toronto, and New York. In recent years, his three most highly regarded novels, The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules, and A Prayer for Owen Meany, have been published in Modern Library editions. Owen Meany was adapted into a children's film, Simon Birch (Irving disowned this adaptation, going so far as to request that all of the characters' names be changed for the film version). In 2004, A Widow for One Year was adapted into The Door in the Floor, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger.

Related Topics:
Iowa Writer's Workshop - Trying to Save Piggy Sneed - My Movie Business - The Cider House Rules - Vermont - Toronto - New York - The World According to Garp - A Prayer for Owen Meany - Modern Library - 2004 - A Widow for One Year - The Door in the Floor - Jeff Bridges - Kim Basinger

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