The World According to GarpThe World According to Garp
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Book, 1998
Current format, Book, 1998, Modern Library edition, Available now.Book, 1998
Current format, Book, 1998, Modern Library edition, Available now. Offered in 0 more formatsThe bestselling coming-of-age classic novel by John Irving--now in a limited 40th anniversary edition with a new introduction by the author.
"He is more than popular. He is a Populist, determined to keep alive the Dickensian tradition that revels in colorful set pieces...and teaches moral lessons."-- The New York Times
The opening sentence of John Irving's breakout novel, The World According to Garp , signals the start of sexual violence, which becomes increasingly political. "Garp's mother, Jenny Fields, was arrested in Boston in 1942 for wounding a man in a movie theater." Jenny is an unmarried nurse; she becomes a single mom and a feminist leader, beloved but polarizing. Her son, Garp, is less beloved, but no less polarizing.
From the tragicomic tone of its first sentence to its mordantly funny last line--"we are all terminal cases"-- The World According to Garp maintains a breakneck pace. The subject of sexual hatred--of intolerance of sexual minorities and differences--runs the gamut of "lunacy and sorrow." Winner of the National Book Award, Garp is a comedy with forebodings of doom. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries--with more than ten million copies in print-- Garp is the precursor of John Irving's later protest novels.
"He is more than popular. He is a Populist, determined to keep alive the Dickensian tradition that revels in colorful set pieces...and teaches moral lessons."-- The New York Times
The opening sentence of John Irving's breakout novel, The World According to Garp , signals the start of sexual violence, which becomes increasingly political. "Garp's mother, Jenny Fields, was arrested in Boston in 1942 for wounding a man in a movie theater." Jenny is an unmarried nurse; she becomes a single mom and a feminist leader, beloved but polarizing. Her son, Garp, is less beloved, but no less polarizing.
From the tragicomic tone of its first sentence to its mordantly funny last line--"we are all terminal cases"-- The World According to Garp maintains a breakneck pace. The subject of sexual hatred--of intolerance of sexual minorities and differences--runs the gamut of "lunacy and sorrow." Winner of the National Book Award, Garp is a comedy with forebodings of doom. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries--with more than ten million copies in print-- Garp is the precursor of John Irving's later protest novels.
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- New York : Modern Library, 1998.
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