Title: John! You let me down!
Product review: I've been a big Irving fan, pre-GARP. I used to enjoy how he'd defend his earlier work when everyone was singing GARP'S praises. He has since changed his approach, giving GARP credit for allowing him the financial freedom to have the luxury of time to invest in his books, allowing him the latitude to write the books he wants to write leisurely. So, how does he explain this overblown exercise? I became, sadly, bored by the hero's sex life before he had even turned 14. The world that tattoo artists occupy was much better realized in last year's THE ELECTRIC MICHAELANGELO (although I did like the phrase, "sleeping in the needles.") But this is a week I will never get back again. This also reminds of the later books of James Michener, which didn't show any sign of an editor's pencil. Has Irving reached a point where his publishers' feel every word he writes is golden and worthy of inclusion? This may have been a wonderful 200 page book, but it is a lousy one for 800 pages.
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