The Imaginary Girlfriend A Memoir
Synopsis
From a novelist known for the complexity of his novels - they are also long - comes an autobiography of compelling simplicity; it is also short. Dedicated to the memory of two wrestling coaches and two writer friends, The Imaginary Girlfriend is a lucid portrait of the writers and wrestlers who played a mentor role in John Irving's development as a novelist, a wrestler and a wrestling coach. Moreover, this candid memoir portrays a father's dedication to his children: Irving coached his sons Colin and Brendan to New England championship titles - a championship that, as a competitor, he himself was denied.John Irving began writing and wrestling when he was fourteen. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, he was certified as a referee for twenty-four and he coached the sport until he was forty-seven. His thirty-three years in wrestling are three times those he spent as a student and a teacher of Creative Writing; yet his concise autobiography details the interrelationship of the disciplines of writing and wrestling - from the days when Irving was a beginner at both pursuits until his fourth wrestling-related surgery at the age of fifty-three.The Imaginary Girlfriend is both a work of the utmost literary accomplishment and a paradigm for living.Book details
- Author:
- John Irving
- ISBN:
- 9781448111923
- Related ISBNs:
- 9780552996808
- Publisher:
- Transworld
- Pages:
- N/A
- Reading age:
- Not specified
- Includes images:
- Yes
- Date of addition:
- 2018-08-20
- Usage restrictions:
- Copyright
- Copyright date:
- 1997
- Copyright by:
- Random House Group
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Categories:
- Biographies and Memoirs, Nonfiction