I really liked a great deal of this book. It is a collection of short memoir pieces, short fiction, and essays. The memoir pieces are nice although there is quite a bit about wrestling in there, my son wrestled and I didn't mind so much although there was QUITE A BIT about wrestling. The short fiction pieces were mostly good with a couple of exceptions that Irving himself didn't seem to like too much. I didn't like the one about politically correct people because I am tired of people taking potshots at politically correct people and I didn't much like the one about the car because it was a little boring. I didn't read the essays at the end because I already know that I love Dickens and I know why. But most of the stories were wonderful. I loved the story about Piggy Sneed because it was so honest and raw and such a loving homage to his grandmother. I don't generally like short stories because they often read to me like story ideas that weren't good enough to turn into novels, but these short stories (with the two exceptions) were very moving.

The story about refereeing in Maine is amazing. If you find yourself glazing over in the wrestling part, skip to that.

I would call this collection so-so. The memoir The Invisible Girlfriend was a a tedious read. It is 80% blow by blow accounts of wrestling matches. Not being a wrestling fan, I had trouble keeping with it. The first memoir piece in the collection, which shares the book's title, Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, was a lot more enjoyable, as were the short stories and essays that followed them.

Also interesting are the author's notes that follow each piece, in which Irving reflects on the work, the context of why it was written, and what he would change now.

John Irving is hands down my favorite contemporary author. I'm always nervous that the next thing I read will change my opinion of him, but I just love him more the more of his work I read. When I realized this was a mix of memoirs, short fiction, and nonfiction, my usual anxiety kicked in. Maybe eventually I will learn to let that go. Like everything else I have read from Irving, this book surpassed all my expectations.

Beginning with memoirs, Irving sets the pace for an intimate look at his private life. Like his fiction, the memoirs are full of rich, vibrant details and "characters." The short stories in the middle are beautifully created and often harken back to his larger works. Three nonfiction pieces (two on the subject of Dickens and one of Gunter Grass) end the book.

One of the things I love the most about this collection is that every piece has an author's note at the end. These notes are less informative of the work preceding and more an insight from Irving about the writing process itself and the details that were going on in his life surrounding that piece. Having these notes after each work creates a dialogue between Irving and himself that is so thrilling for someone who is a big fan of his work already. The notes set this book apart and create a special piece of art for those who love Irving and writing in general.

This is something I think I will come back to once I have read more of Irving. Even with the few novels I have read, I picked up on a lot of insights from the memoir section (even without taking the notes into consideration). It is so cool to see how his writing is informed by his experiences and to get just a small glimpse of his wonderful mind. I highly recommend this book for any Irving fan.

A combination of short story/memoir which includes Irving's observations on his own work (this was my favorite part). Wrestling fans may particularly enjoy Irving's detailed descriptions of his matches and coaching. The biggest take away from the collection involved Irving's comments on being a writer, such as "I believe that my life as a writer consists of one-eights talent and seven-eights discipline, too.". Aspiring writers, take note...

At one time, I wrote a scathing review of this book. But, it's no longer on Amazon, and according to another reviewer, this book has been re-issued with some of the offending wrestling memoirs removed.

OBYW, Piggy Sneed is a good short story, and did get published as literature, with respect at the time. But, to use it as the bait to create a self-indulgent and boring piece of self promotion was a terrible idea, and an abuse of his audience. Maybe the abridged puff piece is less of an offense.

I did see that several other Irving fans (yes, I am one) came to the same conclusion I had, and wrote reviews similar to mine.

The bottom line is, read Piggy Sneed, but don't buy this book to get the opportunity. This is one you could borrow from your library. You won't want to keep it when you are done.

Usually I like John Irving's books, but this one I did not care for.

The first story (at least I hope it is a fictional short story) was not something I enjoyed all.

The next section, "The Imaginary Girlfriend" was all about wrestling - a subject in which I have next to no interest. Donated to the Medina County Library.

This is a very different book from John Irving’s norm… It’s an eclectic mini-memoir plus several short stories plus several essays, primarily on Charles Dickins’ brilliance. Some valuable reflections on his vocation as a writer. For example, “Being a writer is a strenuous marriage between careful observation and just as carefully imagining the truths you haven’t had the opportunity to see.“

Very much not for me. The stories were... interesting, but exceedingly boring for me as someone who likes excitement, adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi as their primary likes for reading. Ah well! It was worth a try. :) Maybe I'll give one of his full-length novels a try in the future.

I haven't read one of John Irving's novels since Garp first came out in paperback, and I have to wonder why, because I certainly enjoyed Garp. I liked the audiobook of these stories and essays very much. I chose him because book 26 in my challenge was Author Who Shares Your Initials, and the pickings were slim. Plus the audiobook was included at no cost on Audible. Now I think I'll move on to The Ciderhouse Rules. I don't have another 43 years to get back to this fine writer.

This is a book for die hard John Irving fans, but since I count myself in their ranks, I enjoyed it. It is a collection of shorter works, interspersed with Irving's commentary on them. It's interesting to see what he has to say about his own writing. I didn't always agree with what he had to say, but that's fine. His notes always gave me a deeper insight into his work, even where my opinions may differ from his.

By Irving's own confession, he is more a novelist than a short story writer. I agree. Short stories work best for me as tiny perfect sparkling gems like Chekhov wrote. Irving's strengths are more evident on a larger canvas. But still these stories are very good, and I enjoyed all of them. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the one about the Pension Grillparzer which of course comes from The World According to Garp, where it serves a separate purpose as part of the larger story.

But my favorite part of the book is the essay on Dickens. I share Irving's great admiration for Dickens, though again, mostly not for the same reasons that Irving admires him, but all of Irving's points are well taken and I loved how two of the things that Irving most likes about Dickens - his unbridled sentimentality and his improbable plots are also characteristics that I have always enjoyed in Irving's own writing.

Anyone who shares my opinion that John Irving is one of the great treasures of contemporary American literature should read this book.

Loads of insight into some classics. Worth a gander.

A collection of 8 short-stories:

Trying to Save Piggy Sneed: 4
Interior Space: 5
Almost in Iowa: 3
Weary Kingdom: 4
Brennbar's Rant: 5
Other People's Dreams: 3
The Pension Grillparzer: 4
The King of the Novel: 4

An enjoyable Irving mix