false 4660 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 4660 22 1831615 1974 The 158-Pound Marriage total:2904|5:194|4:675|3:1292|2:611|1:132| 2904 8899 3607 110 3075 3.86 130623 8942 14643399 715145 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2800 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 1 2 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 12:30:51 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 07:47:53 -0800 2008 The Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp – this novel was too tightly centered for me, too focused, too small, too concerned with four people when John Irving’s worlds often pull them in by the doze...more...]]> 2475811 157792 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 4 2 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 00:10:38 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 00:27:36 -0700 2007 5552098 41751 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 5 2 false Sun Sep 02 18:44:02 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 19:27:02 -0700 2007 66686156 804496 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 2 0 false Sat Aug 08 17:11:35 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 17:30:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 13377207 14258 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 4 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 06:50:59 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 06:54:06 -0800 2008
severin scares me a little because i think tha...more...]]> 44915274 1977032 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 3 0 false Fri Jan 30 19:56:50 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 20:16:30 -0800 2009
AND I learned a LOT about wrestling....

I read every John Irving novel I could get my hands on after The Hotel New Hampshire...all in a couple ...more...]]> 75226064 1377203 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 2 0 false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 05:56:08 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 06:08:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 81518356 1490276 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 3 0 false Sat Dec 19 17:44:27 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 19 18:00:51 -0800 2009 more...]]> 40749266 10463 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 3 0 false Thu Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 23 07:14:32 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 08 08:23:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 80925906 820231 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 1 0 false Sun Dec 13 20:41:04 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 13 20:45:40 -0800 2009 more...]]> 45813897 1009955 1831741 0671468111 9780671468118 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224939512m/1831741.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224939512s/1831741.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1831741.The_158_Pound_Marriage 2.55 11 --The Washington Post

The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this erotic, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.

"One of the most remarkable things about John Irving's first three novels, viewed from the vantage of The World According to Garp, is that they can be read as one extended fictional enterprise. . . . The 158-Pound Marriage is as lean and concentrated as a mine shaft."
--Terrence Des Pres]]> 1974 1 0 false Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 06:30:45 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 14:32:25 -0800 2009 45546213 75319 1041798 0552992089 9780552992084 3 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180454548m/1041798.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180454548s/1041798.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1041798.The_158_pound_Marriage 3.24 29 --The Washington Post

The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this erotic, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.

"One of the most remarkable things about John Irving's first three novels, viewed from the vantage of The World According to Garp, is that they can be read as one extended fictional enterprise. . . . The 158-Pound Marriage is as lean and concentrated as a mine shaft."
--Terrence Des Pres]]> 1974 2 0 false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 06:45:15 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 05:22:45 -0800 2009 51245884 294112 1831742 0552112674 9780552112673 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188945642m/1831742.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188945642s/1831742.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1831742.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.00 22
The narrator (who never identifies himself by name) is a college professor and a relatively unsuccessful author of historical novels. While doing research in Vienna, Austria, he met Utch, an orphaned survivor of the German occupation and the Russian siege at the end of World War II. At the opening of the novel, the narrator and Utch are married with two children and live a relatively placid existence until, at a faculty party, they become acquainted with Severin Winter, a Viennese-born professor of German and coach of the school's wrestling team, and his wife Edith, a WASP from a privileged background (she met her husband in Vienna while on a buying trip for MOMA) who is an aspiring fiction writer. The narrator begins a mentor-protege relationship with Edith, and soon the couples are sharing dinners and play-dates with their children. As the narrator becomes more attracted to Edith and Utch begins to fall for Severin, the couples begin trading spouses for sexual encounters at the end of their dinner dates. At first the affairs proceed smoothly, with emotional conflict submerged beneath sexual curiosity, but soon enough, obsessive love rears its ugly head, and the narrator begins to discover that the Winters have not been entirely honest with him and his wife about their motives for entering the affair.

The sport of wrestling features prominently—the novel's title refers to the 158-pound weight class, which Severin Winter considers the most elite competitive weight—and a subplot eventually emerges involving Winter's protege, a peculiar wrestling prodigy from Iowa who transfers to Winter's college because of its superior biology department and becomes a pawn in the fallout of the two couples' swinging relationship.]]> 1974 4 0 false Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 06:57:12 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 05:59:13 -0700 2009 1 163799 17547 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 4 0 false Mon Mar 05 07:37:34 -0800 2007 Wed Mar 07 12:52:13 -0800 2007
"Languages," he said. "I wish everyone spoke two or three languages and used them -- all together. There are only so many ways to say things in one language. If we could only talk even more, make more description, add more conf...more...]]> 21260018 1110606 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 2 0 false Wed Jul 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 11:53:18 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 08:19:30 -0700 2008
Although I liked this book and believe that he created a tremendous amount of tension in just 154 pages, I just don't love his stories. I read books for the storytelling aspect. If the author can weave a good yarn and suck me in comple...more...]]> 15404432 8476 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 3 0 false Thu Feb 14 08:24:49 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 08:30:18 -0800 2008 more...]]> 40402357 1177500 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 3 0 false Sun Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Dec 18 14:13:24 -0800 2008 Mon Aug 10 18:33:59 -0700 2009
This was written in the early 70s when wife/husband swapping was more prevalent. Other than the thrill of sleeping w/ someone other than their partners, I didn't get a sense of any real legitimate reason (fictional or otherwise) w...more...]]> 38411602 1729113 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 4 0 false Sat Nov 22 17:22:02 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 22 18:05:23 -0800 2008 76517813 1954160 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 3 0 false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 15:11:53 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 15:14:17 -0800 2009 67278838 2582387 4660 0345417968 9780345417961 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938m/4660.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165447938s/4660.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4660.The_158_Pound_Marriage 3.06 2904 The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.]]> 1974 1 0 false Sat Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 1995 Thu Aug 13 13:41:24 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 06:24:19 -0700 2009 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4660