John irving has a way of creating a world of memorable characters into which i find myself instantly transported as soon as i open the book. He also makes use in a way i have never remarked upon in his other novels a standard writing technique of his ...  Read More

This book is the strangest i have ever read by a well-known author. This novel isn't for the weak of heart or those tending towards prudishness.

Jack dazzles audiences with his portrayals of tess from tess of the d'urbervilles. After jack attends various schools in north america, he undergoes a period of disillusionment regarding his mother.

As an adult, jack is constantly besieged by both sexes drawn to his good looks and celebrity status. Jack develops into a successful actor with some of his best roles playing women or transvestites. We see how his relationships unfold as jack discover...  Read More

The story isn't only prurient and banal-it's also unbelievable. After his eleventh attempt, john irving tries to write more like dickens than ever. This makes two duds in a row for irving, whose last book was pretty mediocre as well. I shudder to thin...  Read More

When it refers to this repeated * by all sorts of women as * irving puts the word * in quotations - *. It really is just * for the sick.

There are plenty of vignettes in which jack's * takes control of him, but this is explained as an offshoot of his absent father’s reputation more than his childhood *. The narrative jumps around various cities in europe and north america providing bor...  Read More

A grocery store bestselling lifetime original title, one that screams don't read me. If this book was any longer, i think i would have had a seizure. A deeply disturbed book.