Author
John Irving
Birth Date
March 2, 1942
(84 Years)
Associated Country
United States
John Irving is an American novelist, screenwriter, and short story writer whose work is known for its distinctive blend of humor, tragedy, and unconventional storytelling. Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, he studied at the University of New Hampshire and later at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was mentored by fellow novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Over the course of a career spanning more than five decades, Irving has become one of the most widely read and influential voices in contemporary American literature.
His novels often explore themes of family, identity, fate, sexuality, and belonging, featuring memorable characters and intricate, emotionally resonant narratives. Known for combining literary depth with broad popular appeal, Irving has earned an international readership and has seen many of his works adapted for film and television.
In addition to his achievements as a novelist, Irving is an accomplished screenwriter and recipient of numerous literary honors. His enduring influence on modern fiction has secured his place among the most significant American authors of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
His novels often explore themes of family, identity, fate, sexuality, and belonging, featuring memorable characters and intricate, emotionally resonant narratives. Known for combining literary depth with broad popular appeal, Irving has earned an international readership and has seen many of his works adapted for film and television.
In addition to his achievements as a novelist, Irving is an accomplished screenwriter and recipient of numerous literary honors. His enduring influence on modern fiction has secured his place among the most significant American authors of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Books
So says John Berry, son of a hapless dreamer, brother to a cadre of eccentric siblings, and chronicler of the lives lived, the loves experienced, the deaths met, and the myriad strange and wonderful...
In One Person 2013
A New York Times bestselling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, In One Person is a story of unfulfilled love—tormented, funny, and affecting—and an impassioned embrace of our sexual...
Until I Find You 2006
Until I Find You is the story of the actor Jack Burns – his life, loves, celebrity and astonishing search for the truth about his parents.
When he is four years old, Jack travels with his mother...
A Widow for One Year 1999
In A Widow for One Year, we follow Ruth Cole through three of the most pivotal times in her life: from her girlhood on Long Island (in the summer of 1958) through the fall of 1990 (when she is an...
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because...
Powerful and political, with unforgettable characters and timeless themes, The World According to Garp is John Irving’s breakout novel. The precursor of Irving’s later protest novels, it is the story...
Homer Wells grows up in a rural Maine orphanage under the tutelage of Dr. Wilbur Larch, a physician who both delivers babies and performs illegal abortions. Dr. Larch trains Homer in obstetrics and...
The Water-Method Man 1997
Fred "Bogus" Trumper has troubles. A divorced, broke graduate student of Old Norse in 1970s New York, Trumper is a wayward knight-errant in the battle of the sexes and the pursuit of happiness: His...
The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this sensual, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp; but this very trim and...