A friend of mine sent me this book as a
gift, knowing how much I enjoy reading an intelligently written
story. I was familiar, of course, with Irving, and had read and
enjoyed at least a couple of his books before (i.e. The World
According To Garp, and The Hotel New Hampshire – both excellent
stories). Irving is a good storyteller, and anyone interested in the
art of telling a good story would be well advised to read his books
to see how it should be done. And since so many people have been
suggesting to me lately that I should write a «story», I was glad
for Irving's example of how it should be done.