Publisher's Synopsis
In a story spanning five decades,Last Night in Twisted River–John Irving’s twelfth novel–depicts the recent half-century in the United States as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.” From the novel’s taut opening sentence–“The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long”–to its elegiac final chapter,Last Night in Twisted Riveris written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority ofThe Cider House Rulesand APrayer for Owen Meany.It is also as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving’s breakthrough bestseller,The World According to Garp.
What further distinguishesLast Night in Twisted Riveris the author’s unmistakable voice–the inimitable voice of an accomplished storyteller. Near the end of this moving novel, John Irving writes: “We don’t always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly–as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth–the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives.”
From the Hardcover edition.
