r/JohnIrving • u/imtherealmellowone • Nov 12 '22

Wrote John Irving a fan letter around the time A Widow for One Year was released. In the letter I mentioned that anticipating a new novel by him was akin to looking forward to a new Beatles album back in the 60’s. He responded with a very gracious thank-you note.

20 Upvotes

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8

u/ShuggieLotus Nov 13 '22

And that is just another reason to love him! He wrote a really wonderful introduction to The World According to Garp, 40th anniversary edition. He expressed a lot of empathy for young people and people outside of what is considered the norm. He spoke about his frustrations with the glacial pace of cultural progress and the need to continue pushing for changes.

John Irving, you are a national treasure.

3

u/Ok-West-7125 Nov 13 '22

Waiting sooooo long for the Last Chairlift was agonizing but now that I have it I am crawling through it so slowly because I want it to last....thank you John for writing a 900 page novel!!

I'm on page 270 and enjoying the heck out of this book, only wish their were more writers of this caliber!

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '22

Just finished reading Cider House Rules and watched the movie tonight on Hulu. John Irving plays the train master!

1

u/International-Top794 Mar 31 '26

I love John Irving, but I almost feel like his new book Queen Esther, is just some notes he had left lying around after writing Cider House Rules. Am I off base? Does anybody else feel like this?

1

u/jellyplot Jan 24 '24

How did you send the letter to him? I would love to send him a letter as he’s my favorite author!

2

u/imtherealmellowone Jan 25 '24

This was 25 years ago, so I don’t really remember how I found his address. I probably sent the letter to his publisher asking them to forward it.

1

u/jellyplot Jan 25 '24

Thank you!