The World According to Garp.

IRVING, John.

Item Number: 37007

New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978.

First edition of Irving’s fourth and breakthrough novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Inscribed by the author on the title page to his editor David Kent, “For David Kent with my admiration and affection John Irving.” Kent’s small address label to the front free endpaper, fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of wear. Jacket design by Leo Manso. An outstanding association copy.

The World According To Garp is a comic and compassionate coming-of-age novel that established John Irving as one of the most imaginative writers of his generation. A worldwide bestseller since its publication in 1978, Irving's classic is filled with stories inside stories about the life of T.S. Garp, novelist and son of Jenny Fields. "There is something of Byron about John Irving. Not only is it that he woke after the publication of The World According To Garp to find himself famous, but the extremity of his opinions and the nervous violence of his language recall that intemperate noleman, and like Byron, he would certainly say that love is no sinecure" (Robertson Davies). It was made into the 1982 film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robin Williams in the title role. For their roles, John Lithgow and Glenn Close were respectively nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 55th Academy Awards.