From the Bookshelf of Queereaders…

In One Person

John Irving

Start date: May 1, 2013

Finish date: June 30, 2013

Discussion: group reads

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May 07, 2012 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: queer, fiction_non_genre

This is a very John Irving John Irving book. He has elevated "write what you know" to an art form. There's a boy with a single mother and an absent father (see also Owen Meany, Garp). He grows up to be a writer (Garp). (view spoiler) It's set in New England (Owen Meany, Hotel New Hampshire, Cider House Rules, um, almost all of his books?) with a boys' boarding school (Hotel This is a very John Irving John Irving book. He has elevated "write what you know" to an art form. There's a boy with a single mother and an absent father (see also Owen Meany, Garp). He grows up to be a writer (Garp). (view spoiler) It's set in New England (Owen Meany, Hotel New Hampshire, Cider House Rules, um, almost all of his books?) with a boys' boarding school (Hotel New Hampshire) and a trip to Vienna (Hotel New Hampshire). There's a grand old house (Hotel New Hampshire, Owen Meany) and a domineering grandmother (Owen Meany) and a jock older male relative (Hotel New Hampshire). There's a character whose every sentence is cried rather than spoken (Owen Meany). And of course, lots of wrestling.

That's just the physical resemblance. Stylistically, I was impressed as always by his ability to weave time backward and forward. Other familiarities grated a bit. With the time-weaving comes a certain amount of necessary reminder, but I thought he didn't trust his reader enough, and spelled out every conclusion even when the event being referenced was fresh in my mind. There were certain words and phrases that he italicized every time he used them, which also felt like it was meant to serve as a reminder to a neglectful reader. There were multiple characters with the same strange psychological affliction in which they could not pronounce certain words. Every character seemed to have a habit of discussing words separate from their meanings: multiple characters used the phrase "the _____ word," say "the table word" to differentiate from the actual table.

To address the subject matter, this is the story of one man's life, and specifically his sexual development as a bisexual man. It addresses Stonewall and Vietnam and AIDS, all through Billy Abbott's eyes. Irving has written GLBT characters before, but not as narrator (as far as I remember). Irving has done an interesting thing here. If this book had been a gay author's first novel, I think it would be filed under "gay fiction" and would not reach a mainstream audience. Irving has a particular bully pulpit. He has a chance to reach a mainstream audience that he has already inured to shock, and then see if they are actually inured. I only guess at his desire to shock because of the italics and the fact that most of the beats of the story concern sexual reveals. Or perhaps that is meant to be Billy's writing style, since Billy is a novelist himself.

The characters don't always ring true, which might also be a product of Billy's style rather than John Irving's. (view spoiler)
I guess I appreciate the story he is trying to tell, even if I didn't love this book the way I loved some of his previous novels. I will say that I've never seen a book of mainstream fiction with this volume and variety of nuanced, sympathetic QUILTBAG characters. It almost felt like he was trying a little too hard. ...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Brian rated it it was amazing

Irving is a great American novelist. In his latest novel he revisits themes of transgender and bisexuality. He follows the narrator, Billy Abbott, through his life as a student in a boys school, Favorite River Academy, in the 50′s when he was 13, through the AIDS crisis in the 80′s to 2010 when he is 60.

Billy is in the town library of First Sister, Vt., hopelessly infatuated with the librarian, Miss Frost. He is clutching a copy of “Great Expectations.”“ ‘There are a lot of books by Charles Dick ...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Katie rated it liked it

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Jun 20, 2012 Gabriella rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer-lit

Notable for its bravery in tackling issues of sexual preference. I couldn't help comparing the character of Billy (a young boy growing up in 1950s Vermont who is attracted to both men, women, and trans women) with John Irving himself and wondering how deep the similarities go. It was a fun book (until it got to the AIDS part) and I found the New England prep school chapters riveting.

The cons: I find John Irving has a way of drawing out his characters until they become grotesque (or inconsequenti ...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Lord Beardsley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2012

It's going to take me a while to sum up my feelings on this one...part of me found it to be one of the best books I've read in years, and another part was left hugely let down...

Despite all let-downs, this is one of those books that will always hold a special place in my heart. ...more

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