Trying to Save Piggy Sneed is a most interesting assortment of memoir, short stories, and essays. I enjoyed Irving's stories about wrestling and being a referee for that sport, his intriguing short stories, and the explanations of them that followed. Also, he has quite a few interesting anecdotes, especially the one about meeting Thomas Mann's daughter on a plane, quite by coincidence. (Elizabeth Mann Borgese was an oceanographer who had trained her dog, Claudio, to play piano. I am not making this up.)

John Irving's stories and commentary about other writers and novels always inspires me to read more. That Great Expectations was the work that made Irving want to write may propel me to read it again sometime, and certainly to read more Dickens.

Of the short stories featured in this collection, I was especially captivated by The Pension Grillparzer, and the commentary that followed. Shockingly, I have still not read The World According to Garp, but when I do, I will have a special appreciation for it...

My copy of this book is a paperback that is identified as fiction on its spine. As usual, that's not the entire picture. Anyone who enjoys John Irving will find much of interest in this memoir.

I love John Irving's fiction. This book is mainly essays and then essays about the essays (and the few included short stories). I am not a fan of books of short stories and I am really not a fan of books of essays (and you can imagine how I feel about essays about the essays). That is my personal preference. I can say, everything in this book is beautifully written, as one would expect from John Irving. So if you like books of this type, you will probably enjoy this one thoroughly.

ook in zijn korte verhalen kan John het niet laten: circus en beren...

A fun mix of non-fiction and short stories. The last section was really dry, but overall a good glimpse into Irving's life and writing.

Now I know where Garp comes from! This is an essential book to know Irving and his life. True, there is a bit too much on the wrestling bits.

The short stories are nice. I knew Grillsparzer from before and in this book I really loved - 'Interior Space' and 'Other People's Dreams'. Interior Space is a germ of a short story- many lives, many stories and he beautifully crafted everything in. I want to read it again, I think.

Did not read into the last bits of the book- where its about Irving's homage to other authors.

This was fun. I haven't read a ton of John Irving, but what I've tried, I've loved. Here, I got to hear snippets of books and some other short writing. It was interesting to hear his take on things as well. He seems like he would be an excellent dinner companion. Maybe not at the Republican White House, but anywhere else.

Definitely read if you are making your way through Irving's works.

I read this because it was free on Audible and I liked the reader. That said, I am pretty annoyed that the audible description characterizes "The Imaginary Girlfriend" as "both a work of the utmost literary accomplishment and a paradigm for living" but yet that essay isn't actually included in the book! First of all, include all the essays in your book. Second, if your book doesn't have an essay, at least don't praise it in your description as the most significant piece!

One thing I must get off my chest. The title story - Sneed - is offensive. I think Irving tries to come off as portraying himself feeling guilty but that it was a boys will be boys time and because they didn't intend any great harm there wasn't actually any great harm done. I understand he was young, but the way they treated that man was wrong and it was harmful, and all I really wanted him to do was acknowledge his shame, the harm, and express his regret for it. It is disappointing that he does not do this.

That said, I do think Irving is clever and the best and most interesting parts of this collection are in his author's notes which follow each piece.

I don't know what this was about. It wasn't awful. The writing was skillful, it just wasn't interesting.

Go for the alternative edition, which also contains memoirs from Irving's childhood.

I’ve never read a John Irving novel. It’s possible it took me almost two years to read this book. I don’t remember exactly when I started it…

There is a bookshelf of unread books next to where the cats get fed. Frequently, I must sit and guard mealtime lest the cat with the humongous appetite muscle off the other two cats and eat their food, as well. Sometimes, no matter how many books I already have underway, as I guard the food bowls, I just grab a book off the unread shelf and start reading. As I do with most books I’m unfamiliar with, I assumed this was a novel. I also assumed I would not like Irving. We’ve had this book for decades—my wife brought it into the marriage when we bound our collections in sickness and health. And, so, off and on, through pandemic times, I have read bits and pieces in stops and starts. I considered abandoning it several times simply because I was expecting a novel and, instead, got something akin to a highlights reel of short pieces (essays, short stories, introductions he wrote for other books). Even the title was one that defied my expectations (until I picked the book up, I believe my brain had so firmly catalogued the title as Peggy Sneed that it wasn’t until I started reading that I realized I didn’t even have this correct). So, Peggy got a sex change, nutritional balance was restored amongst the three cats, and I found myself introduced to Mr. Irving (whose cover-sized head on the back of the dust jacket is a bit creepy).

Mostly, I found myself charmed and surprised by him. He seems a more balanced and down-to-earth person than I anticipated and his writing seems more adventurous and odder than I was willing to advance him any credit. “The Pension Grillparzer” alone made this a worthwhile read and made me want to read The World According to Garp in which this story features. His appreciation for Charles Dickens and Günter Grass is deep and well-argued, and he manages to make even the longest of tangents relevant and entertaining (as he does with an anecdote about a story where he meets Thomas Mann’s daughter on a plane and eventually is gifted an audio recording of her playing a duet on the piano with one of her dogs). After each piece selected for this collection, Irving has written a few pages either critiquing his own work or providing insight as to how the piece came to be. These were valuable and almost felt like a justification for the book’s existence.

He seems to have a realistic view of his so-called “place” within the literary world and where his strengths lay; which, self-admittedly, is with the novel. And so, while this was a nice intro and it’s no fault of the book itself, I find myself exactly as I was before:
I’ve never read a John Irving novel.

One of my favorite writers (Cider House Rules, World According to Garp, etc.). A collection of memoirs and short stories and essays.

This is a collection of short stories by Irving, both fiction and nonfiction. Two pieces in the section entitled Homage are particularly interesting, as they deal with the two authors that have probably influenced Irving most: Charles Dickens and Günter Grass.