'The first of my father's illusions was that bears could survive the life lived by human beings, and the second was that human beings could survive a life led in hotels.'

So says John Berry, son of a hapless dreamer, brother to a cadre of eccentric siblings, and chronicler of the lives lived, the loves experienced, the deaths met, and the myriad strange and wonderful times encountered by the family Berry. Hoteliers, pet-bear owners, friends of Freud (the animal trainer and vaudevillian, that is), and playthings of mad fate, they 'dream on' in this funny, sad, outrageous, and moving novel.

A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers.

About the Author
John Irving published his first novel, Setting Free the Bears, in 1968. He has been nominated for a National Book Award three times - winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp. He also received an O. Henry Award in 1981 for the short story 'Interior Space'. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules - a film with seven Academy Award nominations. In 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most recent novel is Last Night in Twisted River.

Reviews
A hectic gaudy saga with the verve of a Marx Brothers movie * The New York Times Book Review *
Literate, ingenious and original * Observer *
Irving is the wisest, most anguished and funniest novelist of his generation and The Hotel New Hampshire is his best work * Chicago Sun-Times *
An American masterpiece -- Anthony Burgess



Book Information
ISBN 9780552992091
Author John Irving
Format Paperback
Page Count 544
Imprint Black Swan
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 374g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 32mm