Garp was John Irving's break-through novel ten years after his
first book, SETTING FREE THE BEARS was published in 1968. In the
interim he produced two other novels, THE 158-POUND MARRIAGE and
THE WATER-METHOD MAN. All three were successful to a smaller
audience, and certainly successful enough for a new publisher, E.
F. Dutton, to take a serious look at the manuscript for what would
become a classic.Dutton's faith was awarded with a smash bestseller
that was made into an award winning motion picture in 1982, earning
Oscar nominations for its co-stars, John Lithgow and Glenn Close,
and critical acclaim for Robin Williams in one of his earliest
starring roles.

Irving novels are nearly impossible to explain because of the plot
complexities and unusual characters, and GARP --- a story about an
aspriring young writer who lives with his mother Jenny, a feminist
far ahead of her time --- is no exception. People live and die in
bizarre and wondrous ways, perform acts of love and lust, and are
besieged with self-doubt in ways that on one hand resonate with our
own reality, yet are so far beyond our experience as to baffle and
amaze.

Perhaps that is what John Irving does best --- create a fictional
world populated with characters with whom we identify and
commiserate, love and hate, deplore and admire.THE WORLD ACCORDING
TO GARP has earned a permanent place in American letters and is
studied in American Literature classes throughout the
country.