'The Fourth Hand' was a novel that came from twenty years of screenwriting concurrently with whatever novel I'm writing. John Irving concurrentlyfourthhand Change image and share on social
The principal event of my childhood was that no adult in my family would tell me who my father was. John Irving adultchildhoodevent Change image and share on social
I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I had found out was about that zoo. It was a good debut novel for me to have published. I was 26 or 27 when it was published. I already had a kid and would soon have a second. John Irving debutfindgood share on social
Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background. He just didn't know he was a novelist. All those damn psychiatrists after him, they didn't know he was a novelist either. John Irving backgrounddamnfreud Change image and share on social
I think that writers are, at best, outsiders to the society they inhabit. They have a kind of detachment, or try to have. John Irving detachmentinhabitkind Change image and share on social
If you're still wondering about details - how am I going to get these two to meet, or whatever - when you're writing, you can't pay proper attention to the sentences themselves. John Irving attentiondetailmeet Change image and share on social
My first attraction to writing novels was the plot, that almost extinct animal. Those novels I read which made me want to be a novelist were long, always plotted, novels - not just Victorian novels, but also those of my New England ancestors: Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. John Irving ancestoranimalattraction share on social
I lived five years in the Midwest, and I loved it. The people were so nice. The people were so open. John Irving livelovemidwest Change image and share on social
My old coach used to say that if you were in it for the match, if you were in it for the trophies, you were in it for the wrong reasons. John Irving coachmatchreason Change image and share on social
So, I don't work in terms of real time. I don't work in a timely fashion. John Irving fashionrealterm Change image and share on social