John Irving

Set in rural Maine in the first half of this century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch--obstetrician and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Clouds. It is also the story of his favorite orphan, Homer, who is never adopted.

First published in 1989, this novel tells the story of two friends, John Wheelwright and Owen Meany, who grew up together as boys, but who have different backgrounds and appearances. Owen, for one thing, remains stunted at under five feet tall as an adult. He also believes he has a purpose to accomplish. Themes include the importance of faith, and the concept of fate.

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, mysterious newcomer Angel Pope. Cookie and Danny's world of accidents expands, precipitating a series of adventures. The ensuing 50-years follows the Baciagalupos from a Boston Italian restaurant to an Iowa City Chinese joint and finally a Toronto French cafe, while dovetailing...

A girl discovers her mother in bed with a teenage boy and later the mother abandons her. Meanwhile, her father is seducing young girls. So begins the story of Ruth Cole, a famous writer struggling to overcome childhood traumas and find love.

Until I Find You is the story of the actor Jack Burns; his life, loves, celebrity and astonishing search for the truth about his parents. When he is four years old, Jack travels with his mother Alice, a tattoo artist, to several North Sea ports in search of his father, William Burns. From Copenhagen to Amsterdam, William, a brilliant church organist and profligate womanizer, is always a step ahead.

While reporting a story from India, a New York television journalist has his left hand eaten by a lion; millions of TV viewers witness the accident. In Boston, a renowned hand surgeon awaits the opportunity to perform the nation's first hand transplant; meanwhile, in the distracting aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, the surgeon is seduced by his housekeeper. A married woman in Wisconsin wants to give the one-handed reporter her husband's left hand...

An Indian-Canadian doctor returns to Bombay to seek a cure for a disease which afflicts circus dwarfs and is caught up in a serial killing of prostitutes. The action is interspersed with commentary on the lot of social misfits: prostitutes, dwarfs, himself--the doctor regarding himself a foreigner in both India and Canada.

When Tom is awakened by the sound of a "monster," he tells his father what he thinks he heard.

A young man leaves the Maine orphanage where he was raised to find his place in the world and his first stop is to work at an apple orchard.