In One Person

A Novel

By: John Irving

Narrated by: John Benjamin Hickey

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

A compelling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, In One Person is a story of unfulfilled love—tormented, funny, and affecting—and an impassioned embrace of our sexual differences. Billy, the bisexual narrator and main character of In One Person, tells the tragicomic story (lasting more than half a century) of his life as a “sexual suspect,” a phrase first used by John Irving in 1978 in his landmark novel of “terminal cases,” The World According to Garp.

His most political novel since The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving’s In One Person is a poignant tribute to Billy’s friends and lovers—a theatrical cast of characters who defy category and convention. Not least, In One Person is an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the solitariness of a bisexual man who is dedicated to making himself “worthwhile.”

©2012 Garp Enterprises, Ltd. (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"A profound truth is arrived at in these pages. It is Irving at his most daring, at his most ambitious. It is America and American writing, both at their very best.” (Abraham Verghese)

"His most daringly political, sexually transgressive, and moving novel in well over a decade." ( Vanity Fair)

“ In One Person is a rich and absorbing book, even beautiful.” ( Esquire)

john irving does it again

What made the experience of listening to In One Person the most enjoyable?

John Irvings quirky insites to peoples lives.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Billy and his Grandfather

Have you listened to any of John Benjamin Hickey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

excellant as always.

If you could take any character from In One Person out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Billy

Any additional comments?

I think I am now a reall Irving fan and would love to meet him. Send him on tour to Australia

Loved it

I was ‘t sure at first if I liked this book, but I soon fell in love with the characters, even the ones you don’t get to know as well, I nearly cried over. Great book!

LGBTQ

Interesting look at coming of age with questions about your identity. Typical of J Irving, there is a full cast of characters and the story follows them from beginning to end which I love. I love seeing how people live and grow together. This adds an extra informative layer w re to sexuality but i didnt find it very uplifting. Not all books are meant to be.

what planet are these people from?

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No one

What could John Irving have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The characters are not at all believable. A transgender librarian has intimate relations with an 18 year old student and his family defends the adult?

What about John Benjamin Hickey’s performance did you like?

Clear, good variations between characters.

Pete and repeat

I have read other books by Irving that were very good. This one is repetitive halfway through and it gets preachy towards the end.

Repetitive

It took me months to complete this book. No matter where I stopped, the story seemed to pick up and repeat itself.

Very Disappointing

What would have made In One Person better?

This does not seem like a contemporary novel. There is endless tedium in references to Shakespearean characters and other classical literature/opera. There seems be more of this kind of dialog than there is story. I have enjoyed other Irving novels, but this was a waste of money....not sure if I can even finish it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No.

Labored Novel by John Irving

Would you try another book from John Irving and/or John Benjamin Hickey?

I love John Irving. But this particular novel was a disappointment.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The Pilgramage

What aspect of John Benjamin Hickey’s performance would you have changed?

Performance was fine, but writing was dull

Any additional comments?

I appreciate that the author may have been trying to give a gift to his son. But the voice in this book sounded quite false.

Total Miss

This was torture to get through. None of it rang true, and I didn't care about anyone.

Like others, I've read many of Mr. Irvings books over the years and enjoyed them and was touched by them, but this one is a total miss.

Whatever he was going for, it's a bunch of episodes and characters who get thrown together, never amount to anything, die without any meaning in the story or payoff for what we've endured reading about them before that. Just awful.

Whatever he was going for, I kept feeling he's just not the person to tell this story, whatever story he's trying to tell.

Big fan of his like I am? You can definitely skip this one. I will have forgotten it in just a couple days, or if I do recall it for some reason, I'll shake my head and wonder why I didn't bail earlier.

It's a mess. A big fat unrewarding, poorly plotted mess.

Disgusting; A writer sells out.

John Irving has written several fine books, but like most liberals has no solid ground under his self indulgence. I simply have no interest in reading long detailed passages about a man having sexual congress with another man's digestive system. The prose was excellent, the subject repulsive. Trashed it after he made a disturbing attempt to justify himself. This is truly a pathetic end to what was once a fairly good writing career.