Review by Booklist Review
Only a writer with a track record as good as Irving could get this uneven collection of memoirs, short stories, and literary essays published at all, let alone to the tune of a 150,000-copy first printing. There are, however, some high points. In the title tale, Irving explains how his grandmother and Piggy Sneed the garbage man inspired him to become a writer. Devilishly funny and extremely shrewd, Irving, tells us that he realized early on that "comedy was just another form of condolence." Another effective memoir, "The Imaginary Girlfriend," is full of poignant and comical incidents from Irving's school days involving his dyslexia, love for nineteenth-century novels (a real challenge to read given his ailment), and devotion to wrestling. Yes, anyone who knows anything about Irving knows that next to writing, wrestling is his raison d'etre, and there's loads of wrestling lore here, but Irving keeps it lively. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the short fiction in this collection. Irving has written eight novels in 28 years and only 6 short stories he'll admit to. Perhaps he should stick to the novels. (Reviewed December 15, 1995)1559703237Donna Seaman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Irving proves himself, once again, a garrulous and engaging raconteur in this collection of fiction and nonfiction divided into three sections: Memoirs, Fiction and Homage. In the last, while admiring the work of Gunter Grass, he notes that ``Grass is never so insecure as to be polite.'' Given Irving's fascination with the malfunctioning or assaulted human body, one can't help feeling that he's defending his own workboth acne (in the story, ``Brennbar's Rant'') and genital warts (the O. Henry Prize-winning ``Interior Space'') figure in these pages. Sometimes, however, Irving's grotesquerie lacks the compassion with which his favorite writer, Dickens, moderated his caricatures. In the title essay (in which Irving relates his discovery of the powers of fiction-making), Piggy Sneed, the retarded garbage collector and pig farmer whose disappearance stimulates Irving's imagination, is harshly ridiculed: Sneed ``smelled worse than any man I ever smelledwith the possible exception of a dead man I caught the scent of, once, in Istanbul.'' There are other, more engaging pieces: an amusing account of a dinner at the Reagan White House; an early, sentimental story, ``Weary Kingdom,'' about a lonely woman; and, best of all, ``The Imaginary Girlfriend,'' a rambling autobiographical sketch with a heavy emphasis on the mentors and rivals who shaped Irving's defining obsessionswrestling and writing. Each of the 12 sections is followed by ``Author's Notes''; ``The Imaginary Girlfriend'' is supplemented with personal photographs (not seen by PW). 150,000 first printing; BOMC selection; author tour. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
When the going gets tough, the tough...go through their desk drawers. John Irving has not been on top of his game since The Cider House Rules (LJ 6/1/85) and in an effort to showcase the old talent, Irving offers a collection of past writings. Not strictly a work of fiction, Sneed includes memoirs, short stories, and "Homages"-tributes to Charles Dickens and Günter Grass. Written in 1967 when Irving was a student at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, "Weary Kingdom," about a middle-aged dorm mother at a Boston college, reveals a maturing writer, growing comfortable portraying the quirky aspects of his subjects that characterize his work. "The Imaginary Girlfriend," the most recent of the essays (to be illustrated with Irving's photos-not seen), outlines the parallel lines of his wrestling career and reading history. In spite of its unevenness, Sneed is recommended for fiction and literature collections based on Irving's reputation.-Adam Mazmanian, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An uneven miscellany of fiction, autobiography, and commentary from the author of, most recently, A Son of the Circus (1994). The title essay, about a retarded pigkeeper mocked and harassed by the young John Irving and his pals (in Exeter, New Hampshire, the author's hometown), is presented as a meditation on the writer's need to give his attention, and his heart, even to the unlikeliest of subjects. A long autobiographical sequence is brightly written and offers interesting details about Irving's youth and young writing life, but bogs down in redundant and tendentious accounts of his adventures as a wrestler, wrestling coach, and referee (an avocation that, Irving cheerfully concedes, he's taken beyond the point of obsession) and that rather flaunts a somewhat politicized remembrance of ``My Dinner at the White House.'' A section of six short stories (all Irving has produced) includes some forgettable pieces (which their author has the good grace to dismiss as unimportant) from Playboy and Esquire, but also two of Irving's most skillful fictions: ``The Pension Grillparzer,'' a witty tale of Americans in Europe that was first published as part of Garp, and ``Interior Space,'' a complex portrayal of a young marriage endangered by pettiness and sheer foolishness, as well as mortality. A concluding trio of essays written in homage to writers Irving admires includes a pedestrian ``Introduction to A Christmas Carol'' (written for a Modern Library reprint) and a longer piece in praise of ``The King of the Novel,'' which attractively (if unoriginally) acknowledges the deeply formative influence of Charles Dickens. The concluding essay, on Irving's friendship with Günter Grass and the latter's embattled celebrity in his native Germany, is considerably more interesting. Irving is a heartfelt and headlong writer who doesn't spare the horses, or the fireworks. The many who cherish his energy and generosity as a novelist will find much here to whet their appetites for his next big tale. (First printing of 150,000; Book- of-the-Month selection; author tour)
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