While at work on the massive tome that became Until I Find You, John Irving took a break to work on the comedic and relatively short novel, The Fourth Hand. Irving began it hoping it would be his first comedy since The Water-Method Man.

The Fourth Hand is quite funny, especially in the earlier chapters, but it ends up growing out of its original intentions; by the end, you're not reading a comedy. It's not a sad book, but it is bittersweet in a way that will be familiar to John Irving fans.

Patrick Wallingford is a television correspondent for a television network known as the "disaster channel." While filming a segment about a bizarre and tragic accident at a circus, Patrick's hand is devoured by a lion. Following the event, which is shown endlessly on television, he becomes known as "the lion guy," and becomes much more famous than he ever was before, ending up a news anchor. But Patrick is a shallow, womanizing little shit, and is good looking enough to get away with it.

A man from Wisconsin agrees to donate his hand to Patrick in the case of his death. Then, through a bizarre accident, the man dies. Patrick inherits the man's hand, and falls in love with the man's wife (who doesn't love him). This unrequited love causes Patrick to begin reevaluating his own life.

Personally, I've never known any guys who have this easy of a time getting poontang. It seems like every time Patrick turns around, some hottie is dropping her panties. I'm not sure whether a feminist reading of this book would find John Irving in contempt or not. But, it seems to me that we're SUPPOSED to see Patrick as a prick for most of the novel . . . so is all of this womanizing acceptable? Personally, I wasn't blown away by any of the female characters here, not even the woman he falls for, and my favorite was the gum-chewing ho who did Patrick's makeup. I mention all of this because I was mildly distracted throughout by the treatment of women, and how shallow it often felt. So, if that's something that often gets you up in arms, you probably won't enjoy this book as much as you would many of Irving's other works.

This is definitely worth reading for any Irving fan. If you haven't read anything yet by him, I wouldn't start here: track down a copy of The World According to Garp or A Prayer For Owen Meany. This book is good because it's John Irving weaving a fun and bizarre tapestry like he always does. You know how Iron & Wine songs are always good because they always sound like Iron & Wine? Same principal here. The extra incentive here is the fact that this book is more continuously funny than usual, and this might be Irving's only novel where he doesn't try and tell the entire story of the main character's life. The whole story focuses on five or so years for the main characters. So, read it if you're moved to do so. Or don't. Yeah, I never know how to end these reviews. I could end it with a tacky joke about giving a HAND to John Irving, but that would be lame, wouldn't it?

Hm. I’m really sad to give this only one star. I read the Cider House Rules and absolutely loved it. I fangirled over John Irving’s writing and decided to buy a whole bunch of books from him, one of which was this one. The first 30 pages were absolutely fabulous but then the book went straight downhill. All of the characters had so much potential but nothing much happened with any of them. I don’t know if I missed something but this book was a waste of time for me.

John Irving's characters are often quirky to say the least. Normally they draw one in. Irving's typical forays into the minds of the odd but believable individuals who populate his stories are usually irresistably intriguing. I have often had a difficult time putting an Irving novel down.

This novel for some reason does not work. The characters did not interest me, and I neither liked nor disliked most of them. The plot drags on. I often considered putting the book down for good, and not finishing it, which is NOT like me, once I get in very far.

Sorry for the short discussion, but I disliked this book so much I would rather not think about it too long now!

For those who have not tried Irving, don't judge him by this one! I especially recommend A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, one of my all time favorites, and THE CIDER HOUSE RULES.

I am about half-way through and am having a hard time finishing this book. It feels like a chore and I feel like while the story is advancing, it also feels like it is moving in a circle rather than a straight path forward. It also tested my tolerance of certain things and, although I never expected to find myself saying this about this author, the callousness of the discussion of sex and race in this book is off-putting, if not totally offensive. An erection or some woman’s rear end seems to be mentioned every other page and I am still trying to distance myself from the awful mockery of foreign accents in the first few chapters.

The stories that Irving tells are darkly funny and full of insight into the male gaze. This is a spot on turn-of-the-century tale of upper middle class guys, the women they engage with, and how they grow.

I love John Irving. I hate this book. This seems to be a general consensus among all John Irving fans. The worst part is that I chose this book to introduce my husband to John Irving, so now he thinks I'm crazy, even though I keep insisting that this book doesn't even hold a candle to A Prayer For Owen Meany, Hotel New Hampshire, or The World According to Garp. Sure, there are the expected Irving elements: the basic quirky characters, the awkwardly realistic awkward sex scenes, the obligatory German character (but how I wish Monika with a K was in more of the book!), the wandering plot, but this book just sits and acquires a sort of rancid water smell to it. I'm only finishing it because I borrowed the audiobook from the library for a road trip, and by the time we got home I was already 9 hours into the roughly 10.5 hours of listening time. Hopefully this ends on my commute home tonight and I can move on to bigger and better things. Or anything else, really. It's that bad.

A television reporter from New York, while filming a story in India, carelessly, moves too close to the cage of a lion. In an instant, the lion grabs his hand and consumes it. His left hand. This makes world news. The public can't get enough of it. He's achieved instant celebrity status. Minus a hand.

He's been contacted by a donor to replace his left hand. This act of charity was made by the deceased man's wife. The stage is set for the first hand transplant. And a future relationship with the wife.

This was an amusing and shallow tale. Irving's done better.

This novel was a very slow start for me. I had a hard time getting into the writing; it was shallow and quick, choppy even. Hard to fall into, and moved too quick and jerky to be enjoyable. Like riding a bus going too fast down an alley that may have something interesting going on, if you could look out the windows and see more than brick whizzing by.

Turns out that was on purpose.

I didn't figure it out, though, so that detracted from the novel as a whole. If I'd caught on to what he was doing (jerky, shallow, writing for a jerky, shallow world of people), then I probably would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I was simply annoyed.

For me this novel was a case of the parts being better than the whole. There were elements to the novel that I was fascinated by (Dr. Zajac, Doris Clausen), and parts that I just didn't get. For example, the main character is, simply, a dufus. And, apparently, handsome and vacuous enough to make women want to have his babies. Did I ever want a shallow man's baby? Nope. But apparently it's a thing.

The novel's ride smooths out as it moves along, and that made the last half of the novel much better for me. However, I never really cared much about the main character. And, I wanted to know more about Doris. That woman was one interesting, weird character.

There's a bit o'magical realism here, which was a plus in my book.

So it was okay, enough good parts to warrant the read.

The plot, strange as it is, had potential in the hands of a gifted and creative writer like John Irving who has produced some wonderful novels. This book however is an aberration. Throughly unlikeable characters none of whom manage to redeem themselves. Two stars is generous and it pains me to do that to an author I otherwise love.

Good. Odd. A bit short but definitely worth it. Lots of dark humor and good characters.

Herlezen voor mijn leesclub met wat tegenzin. Ik ben al enige tijd klaar met de schrijfstijl van John Irving en ik denk dat ik ooit gestopt ben met zijn boeken bij dit boek. Het voelt gedateerd, gekunsteld en een herhaling van trucjes. Gelukkig hadden mijn leesgenoten er wel wat meer lol in

A fine, enjoyable read of the development of a crass journalist into a fuller human being. Patrick is a TV reporter for an all-news network focused on disasters and tragedies of human interest who then becomes the subject of such news when he loses a hand to a circus lion in India. Unwanted fame grows further when he becomes a recipient of a hand transplant. His character as a heartless womanizer progressively transforms after he falls in love with the widow of the transplant donor. His progressive humanization is paralleled by that of his eccentric surgeon, also through a new love. The quirkly humor and satire we expect of Irving is also transformed with the movement in focus toward the redemptive power of love, all pulled off with a lucid and engaging prose of a master storyteller.