Order of John Irving Books

Born as John Wallace Blunt Jr. on March 2, 1942, in Exeter, New Hampshire, John Irving has always been a man of contradiction and complexity—someone whose life reads like one of his own novels: deeply human, often absurd, and occasionally heartbreaking. He was adopted by his stepfather, a teacher and wrestling coach, who gave him the surname “Irving.” This seemingly small change would mark the beginning of a literary legacy that refuses to play by the rules.

Irving's childhood was a mix of literary inspiration and personal hardship. He never knew his biological father and was diagnosed with dyslexia—two facts that could have stifled a lesser mind. But Irving turned the page. Instead of succumbing to obstacles, he grew obsessed with storytelling, a passion fanned by the works of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Yes, he didn't read fast, but he read deeply—and that depth echoes throughout every twist in his characters’ lives.

Education was not just a formality for Irving—it was a forge. He studied at the Phillips Exeter Academy, where he later returned to teach. He earned a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire in 1965, then received his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1967. There, under the legendary Kurt Vonnegut, Irving found the courage to lean fully into his own eccentric voice—at once tragic, comic, and fiercely unsentimental.

But what makes Irving unforgettable isn’t just his prose; it’s his world-building. It’s the way he takes the chaos of real life—sexual identity, grief, religion, broken families, political absurdities—and weaves it into symphonies of the human condition. Wrestling, both as a sport and a metaphor, appears repeatedly in his books, reflecting Irving's own years as a competitive wrestler and later as a coach. It’s the perfect symbol for his stories: a constant grapple with fate, control, and meaning.

Irving broke through with The World According to Garp (1978), a novel that didn’t just entertain—it confronted. Readers were shocked, delighted, and transformed. It became a bestseller, a film, and a cultural phenomenon. Yet Irving didn't stop there. He went on to write The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany, A Widow for One Year, and In One Person—each one more layered and controversial than the last.

His accolades include the National Book Award (1980), an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules (1999), and the Lambda Literary Award. In 2018, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2022, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honors.

Still writing well into his 80s, John Irving is very much alive—both literally and literarily. His recent novel, The Last Chairlift (2022), is an epic return to themes of identity, legacy, and the ghosts that trail behind us. Irving writes as if the world needs saving through fiction—one painful, outrageous, deeply beautiful story at a time.

So, what’s the irony? That a dyslexic boy who struggled to read would go on to become one of the most celebrated American novelists of our time. That a man who never met his birth father would become obsessed with stories about orphans and abandoned children. That a quiet man from New Hampshire would become a loud, fearless voice in global conversations about morality, sexuality, and human rights.

To read John Irving is to wrestle with life and come out bruised, wiser—and aching for more.