Synopses & Reviews
The scholarly response to John Irving's novels has impinged upon a wide range of contemporary subjects of interest, from postmodernism and ethics to gender studies, the family, and historical criticism. This volume draws on a series of contemporaneous reviews and scholarly essays to provide the reader with an in-depth look at Irving's work.
This book devotes particular attention to the critical reception of Irving's ten novels from Setting Free the BearS≪/i> through The Fourth Hand. The work is divided into eleven sections that address each of Irving's novels and the publication of his memoirs. Each section is accompanied by book reviews that reveal the nature of the novels' critical reception, as well as by scholarly essays that provide readers with an exemplary interpretation of each of Irving's works. Fully indexed, The Critical Response to John Irving includes an expansive introduction, a biographical chronology, and a bibliography for further reading.
Synopsis
The scholarly response to John Irving's novels has impinged upon a wide range of contemporary subjects of interest, from postmodernism and ethics to gender studies, the family, and historical criticism. This volume draws on a series of contemporaneous reviews and scholarly essays to provide the reader with an in-depth look at Irving's work.
Synopsis
Surveys the nature of John Irving's remarkable popular and critical success as a novelist from the late 1960s through the present.
About the Author
TODD F. DAVIS is Assistant Professor of English at Penn State, Altoona.KENNETH WOMACK is Associate Professor of English and Head of the Division of Arts and Humanities at Penn State, Altoona.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword by Cameron Northouse
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Introduction
Setting Free the Bears
The Water-Method Man
The 158-Pound Marriage
The World According to Garp
The Hotel New Hampshire
The Cider House Rules
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Son of the Circus
A Widow for One Year
The Fourth Hand
Memoirs
Bibliography
Index