Customer Reviews

The Imaginary Girlfriend, A Memoir

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Imaginary Girlfriend is a terrific memoir. Irving, while taking a break from writing novels, decided to pen a short autobiography, but he brought his usual sense of humor, ability to develop characters, and readable style to the project. The story does an excellent job of explaining the life events and people who have shaped his character and writing, which I think is very useful when trying to understand and appreciate his other books. I think this story itself is some of Irving's best writing and is certainly worth the short time it takes to read. I would recommend, however, instead of paying for the memoir alone, you purchase Trying to Save Piggy Sneed which includes this memoir as well as several short stories. You will not be disappointed if you are an Irving fan or just enjoy good, entertaining writing.

This book is a must for anyone who has ever wrestled or followed the sport. Irving does a fine job of showing how the physical exertion and emotion he put into wrestling mirrored the creative process of his writing. He is able to capture the sweat, the smells and the camaraderie of the wrestling room while showing that he and his pals were not just a bunch of one dimensional oafs. He concentrates on the creativity and diverse personalities of the wrestlers on his team. Those of you who are former wrestlers who are coaching or who are totally retired from the mat will appreciate Irving's transition from college student, to writer, to family man without ever really losing contact with the wrestling world. Stories about referees and out-of-control sports parents are all too real, but will make you chuckle anyway. A quick read.Iriving shows how all of those old coaching cliches really do apply to life.

Buy "Trying to Save Piggy Sneed" instead, since it includes this work and several other pieces. It's just my stupid opinion, but I think the publisher deserves a big dope slap for republishing this seperately.

I am a big John Irving fan and have read almost all of his novels. This book was a big disappointment for me, though. Rather than deeply delve into the events and people who shaped his writing, Irving provides perfunctory descriptions of the major events in his life as a writer and wrestler. He devotes much more attention to the scores of every wrestling match he ever took part in than to details regarding the process of crafting his novels. For wrestling fans, this book might be just what you are looking for; for others, I would skip it and re-read Garp.

This is something I'd recommend to anyone. John Irving is THE great American writer of our generation, and his memoirs shed a lot of light on his other writing.

If there's a reason not to buy this book, it's because it's included in the "Prayer for Owen Meany" collection and everything in that book is worth reading too, so you might as well get the whole thing.

I expected more from this book. Irving's memoir is sorely disappointing in comparison to his novels. It's not BAD, it's just not written with the same level of complexity and interest found in his fiction.

Good stories but all memory...and I'm not too interested in his wresting days (or any ones for that matter)

I loved reading about Irving's real life. He is by far my favorite author of all time, so I found it quite comforting to read that he is just as normal as the rest of us!
Some of the details were boring- but what auto-biography isn't?

I am a tremendous fan of John Irving but I found this slight writing about those who inspired him uninspiring.