This book was slightly disappointing, despite how interesting the plot was. The main character, Ruth, seemed like half a person to me - and what an unlovable person, at that!

One interview said the book's "comic masterstroke" was that writer John Irving made all of the characters in this book writers. Ha ha ha ha haaaaaa.....oh wait. That's so funny, I forgot to laugh. It would have been funny if all of the characters were hot dog vendors, for example, or clowns. But I fail to see what is funny about a writer writing about writers.

Which brings me to my next complaint. Most of this book felt like a big inside joke between John Irving and John Irving. As the reader, I felt left out. Then I made the mistake of reading some biographical details about Irving (even though his main character in Widow for One Year, Ruth, says that she never reads biographies of authors because they make her feel let down), and I felt let down. Pretty much everything that happens in the book can be traced back to a true event in Irving's life. John Irving is a very creative person, but I expect slightly more from such a famous author.