The World According to Garp: A Novel

New York Times bestseller -- 20th anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author -- "A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and horrifying and heartbreaking."- The Washington Post

This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields--a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes--even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with "lunacy and sorrow"; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries-- with more than ten million copies in print--this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."

Praise for The World According to Garp

"John Irving, it is abundantly clear, is a true artist." - Los Angeles Times

"A brilliant panoply of current attitudes toward sex, marriage and parenthood, the feminist movement and - above all - the concept of delineated sexual roles... Irving's characters will stay alive for years to come." - Chicago Tribune

"A social tragi-comedy of such velocity that it reads rather like a domestic sequel to Catch-22." - The Observer (London)

"A large talent announces itself on practically every page." - The Book-of-the-Month Club News