Book description
A compelling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, In One
Person is a story of unfulfilled love - tormented, funny, and
affecting - and an impassioned embrace of our sexual differences.
Billy, the bisexual narrator and main character, tells the tragicomic
story (lasting more than half a century) of his life as a 'sexual
suspect', a phrase first used by John Irving in 1978 - in his landmark
novel of 'terminal cases', The World According to Garp.
His most political novel since The Cider House Rules and A
Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving's In One Person is a
poignant tribute to Billy's friends and lovers - a theatrical cast of
characters who defy category and convention. Not least, In One
Person is an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the
solitariness of a bisexual man who is dedicated to making himself 'worthwhile'.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, which won the National Book Award
in 1980, was John Irving's fourth novel and his first international
bestseller; it also became a George Roy Hill film. Tony Richardson
wrote and directed the adaptation for the screen of The Hotel New
Hampshire (1984).Irving's novels are now translated into
thirty-five foreign languages, and he has had nine international
bestsellers. Worldwide, the Irving novel most often called "an
American classic" is A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989)-the
portrayal of an enduring friendship at that time when the Vietnam War
had its most divisive effect on the United States.
In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of
Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.(He competed as a wrestler for twenty
years, until he was thirty-four, and coached the sport until he was
forty-seven.)In 2000, Irving won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay
for The Cider House Rules-a Lasse Hallström film with seven
Academy Award nominations. Tod Williams wrote and directed The Door
in the Floor-the 2004 film adapted from Mr. Irving's ninth
novel, A Widow for One Year. In One Person is John
Irving's thirteenth novel.
