John Irving

John Irving 1942-, American writer, b. Exeter, N.H. His mixture of wild plot strategies and eccentric characters brought him to wide attention with his fourth novel, The World According to Garp (1978). The novel concerns the career of a novelist, and its complex narrative gives Irving the opportunity to offer his opinions on a number of contemporary issues, most notably feminism. His other novels include Setting Free the Bears (1979), The Hotel New Hampshire (1981), The Cider House Rules (1985), A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), A Widow for One Year (1998), and Until I Find You (2005). Several of his books have been made into films.

Bibliography: See his memoir, My Movie Business (1999).

Irving, John Treat (1812–1906),nephew of Washington Irving, whose urbane interest in the frontier he reflects in his Indian Sketches (1835) and in The Hawk Chief: A Tale of the Indian Country (1837), also titled The Hunters of the Prairie. The Van Gelder Papers (1887) are Dutch sketches under similar influence. As John Quod he wrote The Quod Correspondence (1842), also titled The Attorney, a novel about legal affairs.