When Robin Williams played T.S. Garp in the World According to Garp, two totally original American icons met: a leading comic actor of our time and the character whose loopy adventures made John Irving's novel a literary milestone and runaway bestseller. Fans of Williams' dramatic work in Dead Poets Society and his Oscar winner* Good Will Hunting will also savor his Garp, a sweet-natured writer whose life is a weird minefield of violence, adultery,...
This week we celebrate the birthday of acclaimed American-Canadian author John Irving, born on March 3, 1942. With a career that has spanned five decades, his work is marked by a tension between tradition and nonconformity, reverence and rebellion. Here we highlight five of his essential titles, as well as their screen adaptations.