The 158-Pound Marriage.
IRVING, John.
The 158-Pound Marriage.
First Edition The 158-Pound Marriage; Warmly Inscribed by John Irving
New York: Random House, 1974.
$600.00
In Stock
Item Number: 150632
First edition of Irving’s third book. Octavo. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Merry Christmas, to Colin’s Teacher, Mr. Gallivan…1975 John Irving.” The recipient was John Irving’s son Colin’s teacher. Near fine in a near fine jacket. Jacket design by Honi Werner.
The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this erotic, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.
