Trying to Save Piggy Sneed
by John Irving
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 988)
Read in July, 2008
a collection of memoirs and short stories by one of my favorite authors! the best part of this book is the author's notes after each story that explains when it was written, how it was written, what JI was thinking about, etc. As a literary nerd and an Irving-phile, this is like a dream come true! the latter third of the book are commentaries on other authors' works by irving (typically comprised of introductions irving has written or introductions he has given for the authors' for books reading...more
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Read in August, 2008
I was looking for a long novel, similar to Owen Meany or Garp, and thanks to my utter distaste for research, all I got was a book of self-promoting memoirs and sub-par short stories. Lines such as "My good friend Kurt Vonnegut" stick out in my head and threaten to change my opinion on Irving's other masterpieces. He criticizes other writers and praises himself for seemingly no reason other than to tell his own story. The only redeeming quality this book has to offer is the "Aut...more
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recommends it for:
irving fans
Very good collection of John Irving's short stories, and a great way to learn more about my favorite author as well as his influences. The 1st 3rd of the book is short vignettes of his life. This is probably the best part of the book. The 2nd 3rd is short stories he wrote (sometimes as practice, sometimes as challenges to prove he can write about some point of view). I enjoyed these but it is definitely not as good as his longer work. The last 3rd of his book are homages, or intros to his fa...more
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Read in January, 2008
I loved the beginning of the book, full of Irving's memoirs about why he's a writer, the Iowa Writer's Workshop, wrestling, and his mentors. There were a couple of good short stories tossed in. But the end of the book was a long history about Charles Dickens, who it turns out is Irving's favorite writer. Not a fan of Dickens, I skimmed/skipped most of that. Seemed like an odd compilation, but then, why not?
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
lovers of memoirs and short fiction
love the memoirs because they have all of the unique perspective and literary panache of irving without nearly as much of the weirdness. the short short stories are good, but characteristically weird. the book reviews i found quite dull—they go to much in the scholarly direction and lose the great prose style and pacing for which i revere irving.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Irving fans
This book is sort of a patchwork of autobiography (which I found interesting), fiction (short stories that were decent), and essays about other books (something I've never really enjoyed, but maybe you do). In sum, I'm glad I read it. But I wouldn't want to read it again.
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I am torn, so had to give it 3 stars, right in the middle. It was somewhat unsettling to read memoirs, short stories, essays, and literary criticism all in the same book. I skipped some sections. But I really liked the memoir. And I hate wrestling.
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I enjoyed these short stories; some of them are autobiographical, which is interesting. Also there are author's notes after each one which provide even more insight. I love Dickens too, and he's piqued my interest about Gunter Grass.
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Short stories mixed with non-fiction memoirs. Felt as if this were a kind of literary version of a "behind the scenes" documentary that are on many DVDs. Fun read for serious Irving fans, or those who used to wrestle in high school.
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The title story itself I remember quite well. It's a story about writing, and there are certain lines that I can almost remember verbatim. Really excellent intro to John Irving's simultaneously realistic and off-beat world.
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Read in June, 2008
As always with Irving, too much wrestling...but his comments on Dickens at the end, were excellent. He is saving "Our Mutual Friend" for the end of his life, just as I am saving Trollope's "The Way We Live Now."
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It's a collection of essays and short stories by John Irving. You can see Irving's development and progress as a writer. You can obviously see that he is influenced by Charles Dickens and Gunther Grass.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
irving fans
gives you greater appreciation for irving's work. only the title story was really worth reading, didn't like the others so much.
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How could I be almost 30 and never have read any John Irving? Perhaps I was just saving some of the good stuff for later.
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Here's my brief review of this book:
http://www.bookpage.com/9602bp...
http://www.bookpage.com/9602bp...
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Little hard to get through. More plodding than the rest ...odd since they are short stories.
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Read in January, 1996
recommended to deb by:
Momrecommends it for: Irving fans
Another good Irving (is there any other kind??). Humor and gritty realism. Recommended.
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As with most short story collection, the pieces vary in quality and acessability....
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Read in April, 2007
I love John Irving. I wish he wasn't married.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.16 (824 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.16 (787 ratings) number of reviews: 28popular shelves
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quote
"You cannot drive with your eyes in the rear-view mirror… But dignity is difficult to maintain. Stamina requires constant upkeep. Repetition is boring. And you pay for grace."
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