The World According to Garp is a comic and compassionate coming-of-age novel that established John Irving as one of the most imaginative writers of his generation. A worldwide bestseller since its publication in 1978, Irving's classic is filled with stories inside stories about the life and times of T. S. Garp, novelist and bastard son of Jenny Fields--a feminist leader ahead of her time. Beyond that, The World According to Garp virtually defies synopsis.

----"Nothing in contemporary fiction matches it," said critic Terrence Des Pres. "Irving's blend of gravity and play is unique, audacious, almost blasphemous. . . . Friendship, marriage and family are his primary themes, but at that blundering level of life where mishap and folly--something close to joyful malice--perpetually intrude and disrupt, often fatally. Life, in Irving's fiction, is always under siege." Time magazine commented: "Irving's popularity is not hard to understand. His world is really the world according to nearly everyone."

----This Modern Library edition includes a new Introduction by the author.

The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editons of impor-tant works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoringas its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.

约翰·欧文 John Irving　被美国文坛泰斗冯内果喻为“美国最重要的幽默作家”的约翰·欧文,是当代最知名的小说家之一,他作品中所呈现的高超的说故事技巧与优美的文学性,使人们常将他与狄更斯和J. D. 塞林格等重量级小说家相提并论。他的小说不仅赢得书评界的一致推崇,而且叫好又叫座,是西方最畅销的小说家之一。

欧文生于1942年美国新罕布什尔州的埃克塞特,即使患有阅读困难症,仍无损于他自小对书籍的热爱,就读于埃克塞特学院时,便培养出对写作的兴趣,且一直持续至今。他的作品由于戏剧性强、情节精彩细腻,每每受到好莱坞的青睐,将之改编成电影。1999年,欧文更以《苹果酒屋的法则》（The Cider House Rules）一片,拿下奥斯卡金像奖改编剧本奖,成为9年来第一位获得此项奥斯卡金像奖的作家。他还著有《新罕布什尔旅馆》、《盖普眼中的世界》、《为欧文·米尼祈祷》、《寡居的一年》等书,他的作品曾被翻译成20余种语言文字,欧洲各国几乎都有他作品的译本,对他极为推崇与肯定。

张定绮　台湾大学外文系硕士,美国纽约哥伦比亚大学东亚研究所、西雅图华盛顿大学比较文学研究所研究。曾任“美国新闻与世界报导”中文版资深编辑,辅仁大学翻译学研究所笔译组召集人,目前任职《中国时报·人间副刊》,译著屡获优秀译本奖。

重要评介：

约翰·欧文是美国最具想象力与热情的小说家……他拥有十倍于其他作家的想象力。

——《丹佛邮报》

和纯粹而沉重的康拉德、浓烈而幽微的福克纳、锐利而絮叨的贝娄或佻达而炫奇的罗斯相较起来,欧文的小说总能在更多浪漫传奇式的悬疑和惊奇的交织之下让读者往复穿梭于倍胜于这些大师们所点染或镂刻的现实。

——张大春

就我个人的领会,欧文是位本质上非常单纯的作家。但由于太过单纯, 以致和这个不单纯的世界产生了龃龉,反倒令人觉得他的现代性更加明显。这种独特感真是不得了！如此的独特与激进,希望有更多人能够理解。

——村上春树

一本出色的小说……欧文对人生精微处的细腻观察与描写,尤其扣人心弦。

——《纽约时报》

约翰·欧文的第四部小说令人百读不厌,情节错综复杂,并且是自我影射的。透过形式上的千折百回,这本小说也是研究女性运动时代的家庭生活,同时还是探讨现实如何被幻想所扭曲的论文。欧文先生说故事的才情如此卓越不凡,以致他能以耸人听闻且没有结局的通俗情节剧,忠实完整地重建我们的时代。

——《纽约时报》编辑年度选书