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eBook editions

A Prayer for Owen Meany

by John Irving

A Prayer for Owen Meany Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys — best friends — are playing in a Little League baseball game in New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. Owen Meany believes he didn't hit the ball by accident. He believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after 1953 is extraordinary and terrifying. He is Irving's most heartbreaking hero.

Review:

"I have been a voracious reader since childhood, and while I've read and loved many, many books, I can honestly say that A Prayer for Owen Meany is my all-time favorite! It is such an extraordinarily funny, moving and heartbreaking story and the ending is the best and most satisfying one I've ever read. The highlight of my first year working for Ballantine Books was attending a reading John Irving gave for the paperback publication. Owen Meany has a very memorable voice when you read the book, so you can imagine how exciting it was for me to hear my favorite author read my favorite book and do the voice of Owen Meany!" M. Coolman, Ballantine Publicity

Review:

"Extraordinary, so original, and so enriching....A rare creation in the somehow exhausted world of late 20th century fiction....Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world." Stephen King, The Washington Post Book World

Review:

"Roomy, intelligent, exhilarating, and darkly comic....Dickensian in scope....Quite stunning and very ambitious." Los Angeles Times Book Review

Review:

"A lavish meditation on predestination, faith, and the unrealized forces that shape one's days." San Francisco Chronicle

Review:

"John Irving is an abundantly and even joyfully talented storyteller." The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Vintage Irving....A boisterous cast, a spirited joy." Time

Review:

"Riveting...Owen Meany, drawn in bold strokes, burns in the mind's eye — vivid, alive, beloved — long after the turning of the final page." UPI

Review:

"A Prayer for Owen Meany leaps off the pages with an imaginative passion that is startling....This is John Irving at full throttle: a riveting narrative, a cast of richly developed characters, and a story as complex and unbelievable as life itself....[A] joyous, provocative read!" Playboy

Review:

"One of the most subtle and brilliant artistic examinations yet of America and America's involvement in Vietnam." San Jose Mercury News

Review:

"Superbly narrated sequences of comic action... Irving is particularly good at rendering the dynamics of things — he has a Dickensian ability to juxtapose and animate unpromising objects? [as in] the book's grand and brilliantly conceived final scene....You don't just read Irving, you listen to him." The New Republic

Review:

"A wondrous novel... ultimately beguiling in its soulful account of a remarkable friendship... Irving's ability to create idiosyncratic characters and put them through weirdly ridiculous yet realistic paces has never been in finer fettle. Humor partnered with compassion, wisdom with absurdity, leave the reader both mirthful and tearful." Booklist

Review:

"[Mr. Irving] 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....More than any of his novels since Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany embraces those 19th-century qualities." The New York Times

Synopsis:

John Irvings A Prayer for Owen Meany is the inspiring modern classic that introduced two of the authors most unforgettable characters, boys bonded forever in childhood: the stunted Owen Meany, whose life is touched by God, and the orphaned Johnny Wheelwright, whose life is touched by Owen. From the accident that links them to the mystery that follows them-and the martyrdom that parts them-the events of their lives form a tapestry of fate and faith in a novel that is Irving at his irresistible best.
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About the Author

John Irving published his first novel at the age of twenty-six. He has received awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation; he has won an O. Henry Award, a National Book Award, and an Oscar.

In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In January 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Abby, September 3, 2007 (view all comments by Abby)
When someone asks me to recommend them a great book to read my first question is if they have read 'a prayer for owen meany' ... if they haven't read it I recommend they do. I love this book. I read it for the first time in college and have read it every couple of years since. I think it is John Irving at his best. Have you read it? If not, you should!
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(9 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
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Mindy, January 19, 2007 (view all comments by Mindy)
This is simply one of the best books I've ever read. Not only does Irving perform his usual magic, creating an entire world that can't help but suck you in, but he also gives us his greatest character--Owen Meany. I even had to put the book down at one point because I was reading it in public and was about to burst into tears! This is a can't-miss for any Irving fan, and a great introduction to his work for anyone who is unfamiliar with it.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780345417978
Author:
Irving, John
Publisher:
Ballantine Books
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Non-Classifiable
Subject:
General
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Boys
Subject:
Friendship
Subject:
American
Subject:
American fiction (fictional works by one author)
Subject:
Belief and doubt
Subject:
Mothers
Subject:
Christian fiction
Subject:
Young men
Subject:
New hampshire
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Religious fiction
Subject:
Predestination
Subject:
Male friendship
Subject:
Vietnamese Conflict, 19
Subject:
American fiction (fictional works by one auth
Subject:
Birthfathers
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
1989
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series Volume:
no. 87
Publication Date:
19970631
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
656
Dimensions:
8.79x4.10x1.42 in. 1.09 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

A Prayer for Owen Meany Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$9.95 In Stock
Product details 656 pages Ballantine Books - English 9780345417978 Reviews:
"Review" by , "I have been a voracious reader since childhood, and while I've read and loved many, many books, I can honestly say that A Prayer for Owen Meany is my all-time favorite! It is such an extraordinarily funny, moving and heartbreaking story and the ending is the best and most satisfying one I've ever read. The highlight of my first year working for Ballantine Books was attending a reading John Irving gave for the paperback publication. Owen Meany has a very memorable voice when you read the book, so you can imagine how exciting it was for me to hear my favorite author read my favorite book and do the voice of Owen Meany!"
"Review" by , "Extraordinary, so original, and so enriching....A rare creation in the somehow exhausted world of late 20th century fiction....Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world."
"Review" by , "Roomy, intelligent, exhilarating, and darkly comic....Dickensian in scope....Quite stunning and very ambitious."
"Review" by , "A lavish meditation on predestination, faith, and the unrealized forces that shape one's days."
"Review" by , "John Irving is an abundantly and even joyfully talented storyteller."
"Review" by , "Vintage Irving....A boisterous cast, a spirited joy."
"Review" by , "Riveting...Owen Meany, drawn in bold strokes, burns in the mind's eye — vivid, alive, beloved — long after the turning of the final page."
"Review" by , "A Prayer for Owen Meany leaps off the pages with an imaginative passion that is startling....This is John Irving at full throttle: a riveting narrative, a cast of richly developed characters, and a story as complex and unbelievable as life itself....[A] joyous, provocative read!"
"Review" by , "One of the most subtle and brilliant artistic examinations yet of America and America's involvement in Vietnam."
"Review" by , "Superbly narrated sequences of comic action... Irving is particularly good at rendering the dynamics of things — he has a Dickensian ability to juxtapose and animate unpromising objects? [as in] the book's grand and brilliantly conceived final scene....You don't just read Irving, you listen to him."
"Review" by , "A wondrous novel... ultimately beguiling in its soulful account of a remarkable friendship... Irving's ability to create idiosyncratic characters and put them through weirdly ridiculous yet realistic paces has never been in finer fettle. Humor partnered with compassion, wisdom with absurdity, leave the reader both mirthful and tearful."
"Review" by , "[Mr. Irving] 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....More than any of his novels since Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany embraces those 19th-century qualities."
"Synopsis" by , John Irvings A Prayer for Owen Meany is the inspiring modern classic that introduced two of the authors most unforgettable characters, boys bonded forever in childhood: the stunted Owen Meany, whose life is touched by God, and the orphaned Johnny Wheelwright, whose life is touched by Owen. From the accident that links them to the mystery that follows them-and the martyrdom that parts them-the events of their lives form a tapestry of fate and faith in a novel that is Irving at his irresistible best.
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