Last Night in Twisted River

A Novel

By: John Irving

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable’s girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County–to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto–pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them.

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 River is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer 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 distinguishes Last Night in Twisted River is 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.”

©2009 John Irving (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Absolutely unmissable . . . [A] big-hearted, brilliantly written and superbly realized intergenerational tale of a father and son.”—Financial Times

“Engrossing . . . Irving’s sentences and paragraphs are assembled with the skill and attention to detail of a master craftsman creating a dazzling piece of jewelry from hundreds of tiny, bright stones.”—Houston Chronicle

“There’s plenty of evidence in Irving’s agility as a writer in Last Night in Twisted River. . . . some of the comic moments are among the most memorable that Irving has written.”—New York Times

Deep dive into fatherhood

My favorite John Irving Novel. The twists and turns of a person’s life is so beautifully captured that I actually took a longer time then usual to savor the chapters. As with all his novels, it was sad to see it end.

vintage John Irving

I'm in with the "rambling" group; w/ mixed feelings on the "overall" (three stars should really be 3 1/2). You have to keep in mind that this represents a return to the original John Irving. . . you know, like Garp and Hotel New Hampshire, complete w/ bear, New England backdrop, characters w/missing or deformed anatomical parts, and anti-war "message". It is a disguised "me-n-Joe", w/ no plot, or significant "revelation" that shows-up in the end--like Owen Meany, or Cider House, or even Widdow. But, it has a quality that other writers will appreciate: it is the story that "writes itself", lIke the Escher drawing where the hand holding the pencil appears to be drawing itself. Irving uses this unusual technique to share his personal "tricks of the trade" with the reader; giving the inside scoop on how an otherwise "plain-Jane" Me-n-Joe, can be transformed, in Cinderellaesq fashion, into something enjoyable, and grabbing--and it must have had some level of attraction, since all my fellow commentating pundits seem to have made it to the end. I think it works because Irving starts in the middle, then gravitates sideways, then fast forward, then rewind back, then regular speed forward again; only to end up back in the middle. If the book went in chronolical order, I may not have made it to the end. The writing, descriptive scenes, personality, character development, and prose are just outstanding (at one point, I thought I could actually smell the Bear sh. . . . in Ketchem's truck). I have to admit, I learned much on the tradecraft; and I highly recommend it to anyone who is even thinking about writing. (I even find myself writing down lines, sentences, phrases, or even ideas for entire chapters, only to put them down, to be used at some future point in my own works). Oh, a last thought, the repetitive redundancy is noticably overdone,over and over again, . . . . but, maybe that's the whole idea.

Good story with highly memorable characters.

This book has a lot of great characters, but the story is all over the place.

Among the finest

Not much for writing reviews on a phone. Please add superlatives in all categories; Twisted River is vintage Irving. An exquisite and inspiring read/listen.

Classic Irving...better narrator, please!

This is classic John Irving, better than Until I Find You. The narrator was poor with little attempt (or ability) to give voices to different characters. I'm surprised Audible didn't even list this as a new release, much less a featured new release. I found it by searching John Irving as an author.

A good long ramble

While I wouldn't rate this as one of Irving's best books, it's a good, long book that keeps your attention throughout. The reader is excellent, the locales interesting, and storyline well thoughtout.

A Tougher Test For Irving Readers

You have to wonder what Mr. Irving thinks of his readers. Does he actively seek to weed out the casual, detached fiction reader? Where in works like "Son of the Circus" and "Until I Find You" he intricately weaves parallel and oft intersecting story lines, in Twisted River he weaves past and current events. Jumping from the present to the past and frequently to all points in between, he demands that his reader pay close attention and keep ever watchful of the bigger, evolving picture.

I am probably not among Mr. Irving's target audience. I found the book a difficult read (re-reading passages 5 and 6 times). Nonetheless, I have rated the book 5 stars mostly because of my admiration of Mr. Irving's skill. Still, I wonder if there was an assertive editor involved in the publishing of the book, and, if so, what was the nature of the dialog that transpired between Irving and editor. My suspicion is that the will of a top selling writer trumps the wisdom of a careful editor.

Irving delivers again

This story, told in Irving's inimitable voice, brings characters to life before readers' eyes and moves those characters through fascinating, unpredictable stories. Irving's stories unfold in a freeform fashion rather than being lock-stepped by overused literary techniques. Rare and much appreciated by this reader.

Typical Irving

Good story which bogs down in the author's inane political views. Irving hates Catholics, Republicans and the unborn...and he tells you constantly in all of his novels. If you can get past his bias, his writing is very entertaining.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book

I thoroughly enjoy this book and it's Garpish characters. I have to agree that I wasn't thrilled with the narrator who had a hard time with voices but the book its self was outstanding. I think it gives a insight to how the writer goes about putting a book together. Well done.