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Original Essays | May 3, 2013

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Last Night in Twisted River

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Last Night in Twisted River Cover

ISBN13: 9781400063840
ISBN10: 1400063841
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Awards

The Rooster 2010 Morning News Tournament of Books Nominee

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Review-A-Day

"The focused account of the family and its arts is packaged with Irving's typically massive plot complications and a vast cast of secondary characters. It is a book that never lets you forget that it is a book, a written thing, full of commentary and repetition (and parenthetical clarifications) and foreshadowing and explanation." Floyd Skloot, the Boston Globe (read the entire Boston Globe review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable's girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County — to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto — pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them.

In a story spanning five decades, Last Night in Twisted River — John Irving's twelfth novel — depicts the recent half-century in the United States as a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.

From the novel's taut opening sentence — The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long — to its elegiac final chapter, Last Night in Twisted River is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is also as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving's breakthrough bestseller, The World According to Garp.

What further distinguishes Last Night in Twisted River is the author's unmistakable voice — the inimitable voice of an accomplished storyteller. Near the end of this moving novel, John Irving writes: "We don't always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly — as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth — the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives."

Review:

"Irving (The World According to Garp) returns with a scattershot novel, the overriding themes, locations and sensibilities of which will probably neither surprise longtime fans nor win over the uninitiated. Dominic 'Cookie' Baciagalupo and his son, Danny, work the kitchen of a New Hampshire logging camp overlooking the Twisted River, whose currents claimed both Danny's mother and, as the novel opens, mysterious newcomer Angel Pope. Following an Irvingesque appearance of bears, Cookie and Danny's 'world of accidents' expands, precipitating a series of adventures both literary and culinary. The ensuing 50-year slog follows the Baciagalupos from a Boston Italian restaurant to an Iowa City Chinese joint and finally a Toronto French cafe, while dovetailing clumsily with Danny's career as the distinctly Irving-like writer Danny Angel. The story's vicariousness is exacerbated by frequent changes of scene, self-conscious injections of how writers must 'detach themselves' and a cast of invariably flat characters. With conflict this meandering and characters this limp, reflexive gestures come off like nostalgia and are bound to leave readers wishing Irving had detached himself even more." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"[A]n artful reflection of how the past informs the present, both for the unforgettable trio at the heart of his novel and the flawed but indomitable country they live in." Booklist

Review:

"Will entertain the faithful and annoy readers who think this author has already written the same novel too many times." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Irving's latest is interesting, funny, and original — but also self-indulgent and highly digressive, with more backstory than story." Library Journal

Review:

"There's plenty of evidence in Irving's agility as a writer in Last Night in Twisted River....some of the comic moments are among the most memorable that Irving has written." New York Times

Review:

"A rich and evocative story." Washington Post

Synopsis:

A story spanning five decades, Irving's 12th novel is set in 1954 New Hampshire, where an anxious 12-year-old boy mistakes the local constable's girlfriend for a bear.
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Video

About the Author

John Irving's novels can sneak up on a reader — you might begin by laughing at his eccentric characters but be in tears by the end of the book. With titles such as The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules, he has achieved a singular popularity for a person who is also one of America's most unique contemporary authors.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
Lindsay Waite, August 10, 2012 (view all comments by Lindsay Waite)
In this book, Irving takes us into a world of a cook (Dominic), his son (Daniel), and a rascal of a friend who stayed behind in the town of Twisted River after Dominic and Daniel flee. Like Dickens, we follow these characters, and those who enter their lives, through several decades of joys and sorrows wondering if and when the "elephant in the room" will reappear. The book is self-reflective as well. Through the character of Daniel (who becomes a writer), the process of writing, including this book, becomes part of the story. It causes one to think a lot about how much of a novel is about the writer, and how much is drawn only from the imagination (if that distinction can, in fact, be made). This book revived my love of Irving's literature, which had been dormant for a while. I am now catching up on two from his past works I haven't yet read ("The Fourth Hand," "Until I Find You") and then will read his newest, "In One Person."
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bookiemonster, July 16, 2011 (view all comments by bookiemonster)
I absolutely loved this book; if someone is looking for a book by someone else; go find it;This is John Irving,; this is how he writes; I love reading his books because I like the way John Irving writes.He doesnt hand everything to you on a silver platter; he makes you think: and desire to get in his thoughts. In my opinion the way to successfully write is to ; write words down in the order that makes a person feel; and feel strongly.Someone who doesnt know why someone cares about certain things somebody is writing about isnt reading very deeply into the story.
John Irving doesnt write ; he is an artist; and he creates art. Just like you; you look at a piece of art ;and I look at a piece of art but; we both come out with different meanings that the artist is trying to convey. Mr.Irving is beautiful.He makes me cry; he makes me love; and he even makes me laugh when I am the only one in the room!
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RobertMZ, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by RobertMZ)
The last book I read of the decade is my favorite book of the decade. Subjects of protection of loved ones, the inconvenient reliance of friends, the evil wreaked by those who could care less or perhaps revel in the evil they wreak, and the dangers of sex in bad weather are all relayed in Irving's ponderously beautiful prose. A winter book if ever there was one. I'm so glad I'm here while John Irving publishes new books.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400063840
Subtitle:
A Novel
Author:
Irving, John
Publisher:
Random House
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Fathers and sons
Subject:
Fugitives from justice
Subject:
General Fiction
Copyright:
2009
Publication Date:
20091027
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
576
Dimensions:
9.53x6.64x1.40 in. 1.93 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

Last Night in Twisted River Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$8.95 In Stock
Product details 576 pages Random House - English 9781400063840 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Irving (The World According to Garp) returns with a scattershot novel, the overriding themes, locations and sensibilities of which will probably neither surprise longtime fans nor win over the uninitiated. Dominic 'Cookie' Baciagalupo and his son, Danny, work the kitchen of a New Hampshire logging camp overlooking the Twisted River, whose currents claimed both Danny's mother and, as the novel opens, mysterious newcomer Angel Pope. Following an Irvingesque appearance of bears, Cookie and Danny's 'world of accidents' expands, precipitating a series of adventures both literary and culinary. The ensuing 50-year slog follows the Baciagalupos from a Boston Italian restaurant to an Iowa City Chinese joint and finally a Toronto French cafe, while dovetailing clumsily with Danny's career as the distinctly Irving-like writer Danny Angel. The story's vicariousness is exacerbated by frequent changes of scene, self-conscious injections of how writers must 'detach themselves' and a cast of invariably flat characters. With conflict this meandering and characters this limp, reflexive gestures come off like nostalgia and are bound to leave readers wishing Irving had detached himself even more." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review A Day" by , "The focused account of the family and its arts is packaged with Irving's typically massive plot complications and a vast cast of secondary characters. It is a book that never lets you forget that it is a book, a written thing, full of commentary and repetition (and parenthetical clarifications) and foreshadowing and explanation." (read the entire Boston Globe review)
"Review" by , "[A]n artful reflection of how the past informs the present, both for the unforgettable trio at the heart of his novel and the flawed but indomitable country they live in."
"Review" by , "Will entertain the faithful and annoy readers who think this author has already written the same novel too many times."
"Review" by , "Irving's latest is interesting, funny, and original — but also self-indulgent and highly digressive, with more backstory than story."
"Review" by , "There's plenty of evidence in Irving's agility as a writer in Last Night in Twisted River....some of the comic moments are among the most memorable that Irving has written."
"Review" by , "A rich and evocative story."
"Synopsis" by , A story spanning five decades, Irving's 12th novel is set in 1954 New Hampshire, where an anxious 12-year-old boy mistakes the local constable's girlfriend for a bear.
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