A Prayer For Owen Meany

a ‘genius’ modern American classic

John Irving

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Paperback

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English

Black Swan
31 March 1999

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers.

'A work of genius' Independent

'Marvellously funny . . . What better entertainment is there than a serious book which makes you laugh?' Spectator

'If you care about something you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.'

Summer, 1953. In the small town of Gravesend, New Hampshire, eleven-year-old John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany are playing in a Little League baseball game. When Owen hits a foul ball which kills John's mother, their lives are changed in an instant.

It is dismissed as a tragic accident but Owen disagrees. He believes that he is God's instrument, put on Earth for a higher purpose. And as the boys come into adulthood to the background of the Vietnam War, a series of remarkable events show that perhaps Owen's divine plan was not imagined after all.

Discover the funny yet poignant classic by the bestselling author of The World According to Garp.

'So extraordinary, so original, and so enriching' Stephen King, The Washington Post

'May justly join the classic American list' Anthony Burgess, Observer

By: John Irving
Imprint: Black Swan
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 197mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 37mm
Weight: 519g
ISBN: 9780552993692
ISBN 10: 0552993697
Pages: 720
Publication Date: 31 March 1999
Recommended Age: From 0 years
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

John Irving published his first novel, Setting Free the Bears, in 1968. He has been nominated for a National Book Award three times - winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp. He also received an O. Henry Award in 1981 for the short story 'Interior Space'. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules - a film with seven Academy Award nominations. In 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most recent novel is Last Night in Twisted River.

Reviews for A Prayer For Owen Meany: a ‘genius’ modern American classic

'I am a Christian because of Owen Meany,' says the boy whose mother he accidentally killed by his foul ball in an 11-year-old's game of Little League baseball in 1953. Thereafter Owen believes himself to be an instrument in God's plan which is to come to a terrifying culmination in the years of the Vietnam war. In the diminuitive Owen Meaney, Irving created one of the most original voices in twentieth century fiction. This memorable story of religion, friendship, family and heroism spans several decades of American history and sees Irving at his finest. (Kirkus UK)