John Irving

The story of the actor Jack Burns. His mother, Alice, is a Toronto tattoo artist. When Jack is four, he travels with Alice to several North Sea ports; they are trying to find Jack's missing father, William, a church organist who is addicted to being tattooed. But Alice is a mystery, and William can't be found. Even Jack's memories are subject to doubt. Jack Burns goes to schools in Canada and New England, but what shapes him are his relationships...

The author's most political novel since The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, this novel is an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the solitariness of a bisexual man who is dedicated to making himself "worthwhile."

Tells the story of Homer, who has lived nearly his entire life within the walls of an orphanage in rural Maine and has been trained by its proprietor, Dr. Wilbur Larch to be Larch's successor. Wally Worthington brings his pregnant girlfriend, Candy Kendall, to the orphanage because Dr. Larch provides medically safe, albeit illegal, abortions. Homer leaves with them to work on Wally's family apple farm. When Wally leaves to fight in World War II, Homer...

Ever since doctors proclaimed Simon Birch's birth as a miracle, Simon's sure he's going to be a hero, he's just not sure how.