The Water-Method Man

Irving, John

ISBN 10: 0394473329 / ISBN 13: 9780394473321

Published by Random House Inc, 1972

About this Item

A nice First Edition, First printing of John Irving's second book. With number line 98765432 and "First Edition" indicative of a Random House first printing. The book is in fine condition with navy blue cloth and bright yellow boards, but for touches of soil on the top edge and a soiled spot on the bottom edge. 365 pp. The near fine dustjacket is clipped with "6/72" on the rear flap. There is overall light yellowing to the white panels and touches of wear at the spine ends but overall complete and quite attractive, quite clean as many of the dust jackets for this edition often present with pronounced soiling to the white paper. Irving went on to write "The World According to Garp," "The Cider House Rules," and "A Prayer for Owen Meany." A nice copy of this early Irving book. Published in 1972, Irving s second novel, a non-linear, semi-autobiographical confession of Fred Trumper comedically recounting his various life failures, which the New York Times reviewed as "brutal reality and hallucination, comedy and pathos." In the collection "Anything Can Happen: Interviews with Contemporary American Novelists," Irving spoke about inspiration during the publishing of "The Water-Method Man," stating, "All the things that happened to me are fair to be used in my fiction…Most autobiographical fiction is tyrannized by how much our unhappiness means to us. The unhappiness becomes an indulgence in our fiction…literature should be a sign of life rather than a celebration of death; and if a novel doesn t address itself to something of human value, I don t see much worth in it." One of Irving s most recent publications is the title "The Last Chairlift," and he s referenced his daughter, Eva, as a heroic figure who inspired the novel, stating "we need more trans women heroes.".

Seller Inventory # 5332

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Water-Method Man
• Publisher: Random House Inc
• Publication Date: 1972
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394473329
• ISBN 13: 9780394473321
• Binding: Cloth & Boards
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Modern Classics
  • FEATURED AUTHORS
  • FICTION
  • Irving, John
  • Great Gifts Under $300

About this title

Synopsis

The main character of John Irving's second novel, written when the author was twenty-nine, is a perpetual graduate student with a birth defect in his urinary tract--and a man on the threshold of committing himself to a second marriage that bears remarkable resemblance to his first....
"Three or four times as funny as most novels."
THE NEW YORKER

From the Publisher

8 1.5-hour cassettes