The Imaginary Girlfriend: A Memoir - Paperback

by John Irving (Author)

"The nearest thing to an autobiography Irving has written . . . worth saving and savoring."--Seattle Times

Dedicated to the memory of two wrestling coaches and two writer friends, The Imaginary Girlfriend is John Irving's candid memoir of his twin careers in writing and wrestling. The award-winning author of bestselling novels from The World According to Garp to In One Person and Avenue of Mysteries, Irving began writing when he was fourteen, the same age at which he began to wrestle at Exeter. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, was certified as a referee at twenty-four, and coached the sport until he was forty-seven. Irving coached his sons Colin and Brendan to New England championship titles, a championship that he himself was denied.

In an autobiography filled with the humor and compassion one finds in his fiction, Irving explores the interrelationship between the two disciplines of writing and wrestling, from the days when he was a beginner at both until his fourth wresting-related surgery at the age of fifty-three. Writing as a father and mentor, he offers a lucid portrait of those--writers and wrestlers from Kurt Vonnegut to Ted Seabrooke--who played a mentor role in his development as a novelist, wrestler, and wrestling coach.

Author Biography

John Irving's fifteenth novel, The Last Chairlift, will be published in October 2022. Mr. Irving won the National Book Award for his novel The World According to Garp. He also won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie based on his novel The Cider House Rules. His novel In One Person won a Lambda Literary Award. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Janet.