A Prayer for Owen Meany (Modern Library)
 

A Prayer for Owen Meany (Modern Library)

by John Irving

Owen Meany is a dwarfish boy with a strange voice who accidentally kills his best friend's mom with a baseball and believes--accurately--that he is an instrument of God, to be redeemed by martyrdom. John Irving's novel, which inspired the 1998 Jim Carrey movie Simon Birch, is his most popular book in Britain, and perhaps the oddest Christian mystic novel since Flannery O'Connor's work. Irving... (read more)

Top tags: fictioncontemporary fictionjohn irvingcoming of agevietnam (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

shiftedreality
  • Rated 4 stars

Very good, but like with most of Irving's books, he should have limited it to half the pages.

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Didn’t Like It

Pat K
  • Rated 1 stars

My best friend in high school said this was one of his all time favorite books, so I read it with great anticipation. I thought it was way too wordy. The ending with "the shot" was so contrived, I couldn't believe that this was what the author had been building up to through the whole book. Took to skimming toward the end just to get through it. Laughed out loud here and there, but definitely not one of my favorite, and I'll probably not read Irving again. Much preferred Garp & Hotel New...

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Community:
  • Rated 4.412583 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 0 stars
 

Newest Comments

  • Valerie O

    valerie o said:

    This is the book I read in Grade 10 that really turned me onto reading. I loved Owen and his quirkiness and was especially intrigued since the girls' school John Irving spent time at researching was the school I attended in Toronto! I have yet to go back to it a second time, but know I will someday.

    posted Friday, June 20 2008
  • Pat K

    pat k said:

    My best friend in high school said this was one of his all time favorite books, so I read it with great anticipation. I thought it was way too wordy. The ending with "the shot" was so contrived, I couldn't believe that this was what the author had been building up to through the whole book. Took to skimming toward the end just to get through it. Laughed out loud here and there, but definitely not one of my favorite, and I'll probably not read Irving again. Much preferred Garp & Hotel New Hampshire, but those were both over 20 years ago.

    posted Monday, June 9 2008
  • Ginny V

    ginny v said:

    A wonderful book. The movie didn't come close.

    posted Saturday, May 3 2008
  • Sharon N

    sharon n said:

    The opening sentnece of "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is one of my all-time favorites.

    posted Saturday, February 2 2008
  • Barbara C

    barbara c said:

    One of my all time favorites. I read this book for the first time about 15 years ago and have re-read it every couple of years since. I hated for the book to end because I so enjoyed the characters. I actually missed having them in my life when the book was over. Sounds odd, I know. I've read several other Irving books and this one was by far the best.

    posted Wednesday, January 30 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
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