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Until I Find You

by John Irving

ISBN: 1400063833
ISBN-13: 9781400063833
Format: Hardcover

Summary

John Irving's 11th novel is about an actor named Jack Burns, son of tattoo artist Alice and church organist William. William departed after fathering Jack, and Alice has been seeking him all these years-as has Jack. At the end of the novel Jack not only finds his father but discovers truths that change him profoundly. In between, he takes part in a series of sexual adventures, in some of which he is abused, and also becomes an acclaimed screenwriter as well as an actor. Irving is always a heavily autobiographical writer who relentlessly homes in on his obsessions, but more events than usual in this novel-which he spent six years writing-overlap with his own, including stints at Exeter (where his father was a teacher) and the University of New Hampshire, as well as his screenwriting career and, as he has said in interviews, the sexual molestation he experienced as a child. Like so many of Irving's novels, including his acclaimed THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, this is a story of violence, dysfunction, and calamity in the life of a fatherless only child who is desperately trying to undo the psychic damage that has blighted his life.

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Media Reviews

"The life of an actor is compromised and traumatized by his many relationships with older women, in Irving's sprawling...11th novel."

   -- Kirkus

"...Irving handles the less seedy elements superbly...."

   -- Publishers Weekly

At more than 800 pages, UNTIL I FIND YOU takes the crown for the best longest novel of recent years....[I]f the story of Jack Burns, Hollywood star and screenwriter, and his quest to find his father had been a third or even twice again as long, I would have stayed with it."    -- Alan Cheuse

   -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"Jack Burns's trip with his mother in the novel's first seven chapters reiterates the central premise of most of Irving's fiction: since all childhoods, even the most pampered, can seem scary, why not expose a fictional child to experiences-grotesque, farcical, sexually outlandish-that might cause even jaded adults to blanch, and then see what happens?"    -- Paul Gray

   -- New York Times Book Review

Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Random House Inc
Published date: 2005
Size: 7 x 9.5 inches
Weight: 2.65 pounds
Pages: 824

Publisher's Notes

"According to his mother, Jack Burns was an actor before he was an actor, but Jack�s most vivid memories of childhood were those moments when he felt compelled to hold his mother�s hand. He wasn�t acting then."

Other Editions

Hardcover - Random House Inc (2005) - from $1.00
Paperback Reprint - Ballantine Books (2006) - from $1.00

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Until I Find You: A Novel

John Irving

[ISBN: 1400063833]

Random House, 2005-07-12. 1st Edition 2005. Hardcover. Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. (more information)

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