A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers. 'A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and heartbreaking...terrific' WASHINGTON POST Anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author. A worldwide bestseller since its publication, Irving's classic is filled with stories inside stories about the life and times of T. S. Garp, struggling writer and illegitimate son of Jenny Fields - an unlikely feminist heroine ahead of her time. Beautifully written, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP is a ...
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A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers. 'A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and heartbreaking...terrific' WASHINGTON POST Anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author. A worldwide bestseller since its publication, Irving's classic is filled with stories inside stories about the life and times of T. S. Garp, struggling writer and illegitimate son of Jenny Fields - an unlikely feminist heroine ahead of her time. Beautifully written, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP is a powerfully compelling and compassionate coming-of-age novel that established John Irving as one of the most imaginative writers of his generation. 'A diamond sleeping in the dark, chipped out at last for our enrichment and delight...As approachable as it is brilliant' COSMOPOLITAN
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Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.16, fair condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Ballantine Books.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.55, fair condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.55, fair condition, Sold by Orion Tech rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Arlington, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.57, fair condition, Sold by Valleys Books & More rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Roanoke, VA, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.84, fair condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Dutton Adult.
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Fair in fair dust jacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.87, fair condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Dutton Adult.
Add this copy of World According to Garp to cart. $1.88, fair condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Pocket.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp to cart. $1.91, good condition, Sold by Jenson Books Inc rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Logan, UT, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Dutton Books.
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This item shows signs of wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact, but may have aesthetic issues such as small tears, bends, scratches, and scuffs. Spine may also show signs of wear. Pages may include some notes and highlighting. May include "From the library of" labels. Satisfaction Guaranteed.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp (Ballantine Reader's Circle to cart. $1.97, good condition, Sold by The Maryland Book Bank rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from baltimore, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of The World According to Garp: a Novel (Ballantine Reader to cart. $1.97, fair condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Ballantine Books.
John Irving's masterful work, The World According to Garp, is not simply a glimpse into the arbitrary darkness--annoyingly delivered by life--that we all must weather, but it is a ride-a-long with a comic genius. With vibrant characters such as Jenny Fields, Roberta Muldoon and T. S. Garp, among other memorable souls, the author rains on his readers a storm of intellectual might followed by the calm of everyman banality. From fanaticism to feminism, sexual misconduct to sexual healing, and then across the plain of family struggles coupled with the always threatening outside world, this is a novel to be celebrated as well as experienced, a hunk of monolithic literature reminding us who the goners are.
courtneyinatlanta
Aug 26, 2010
Not Irving's best, but still great
Another great book by John Irving. It's not quite up to the caliber of The Cider House Rules or A Prayer for Owen Meany, but it's still a fantastic book that is partially autobiographical of Irving himself. A great read.
SeldomSeen
Sep 16, 2008
Beware the Under Toad
An intricate, intimate and, at times, tedious examination of the life of a young, anxious writer. Little is left to the imagination as Mr. Irving covers the entire life and career of T.S. Garp?from conception to last breath?going so far as to include short stories and chapter excerpts from the character?s work (fictional fiction).
All of Mr. Irving?s familiar themes are here including strong feminist women, lust, single parenting, New England prep schools and sudden tragedy. The novel, however, is loose and sprawling. Both A Prayer for Owen Meaney and The Cider House Rules are more developed, better plotted novels. If you?re new to Irving, you should start there even though Garp is better known.
DT07
Jul 21, 2008
This is one of my favorite books. It has amazing characterization and it will always be a classic.
JenB
Apr 5, 2007
Cliches and Lust
As I read on the beach, people would wander up and ask if I was enjoying the book. I had no real answer. Irving puts forth that it is a book about lust and he is right. Life can be described as a competition of lusts (there are beneficial lusts, afterall), but there was far too much sexual lust for my taste. I still read it cover to cover. I can't quite explain why, but I know the answer lies with Garp... and Jenny and Helen and, appropriately, Jillsy. John Irving has created characters that stay with you. They make sense in their extremes. They are the salt of the earth and are caricatures. You will grow so attached to them that you will feel genuine disappointment at their mistakes and heartache at their hurts. I didn't realize how wonderfully constructed the characters were until it was time to give them up.
Irving pulls no punches, so know that anything can happen once you pick up this book. Be willing to be appalled, challenged, inspired and left without answers. Perhaps the only commercial part of the book is that there is an epilogue. The answers that you are left without are the ones that arise within you when you have laid the book aside. I hate to use the old cliche, but it happens. Garp turns your insides around and, once it is over, you are left to ask some hard questions. I don't know how, but John Irving does that every time. That is why this review is not about his writing, but about his ideas. His writing is top-of-the-line. The story catches you before you know it. That is what he does. You don't need this review to know that.
Did I like it? I'm still not sure. I know that I am not ready to trade in my copy to the used bookstore. I think it will remain in my collection for some time.
(A small recommendation goes to those of you who have not read any other books by John Irving. Read "A Prayer for Owen Meany," then read this. Owen is a gentler beginning than Garp.)
