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The 158-Pound Marriage (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345417961
ISBN: 0345417968
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: June 23, 1997
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: June 23, 1997
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editorial Review:
The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this erotic, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Master of Craft, Plot, and Characterization
This is the second book I've read by Irving, and I have to admit he's quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
The book is about two married couples who meet well after they've each established a family and mode of life. Though neither couple seemingly would have considered such a thing before, they begin to swap partners without secrecy. It becomes a normal occurrence for them, and they even go so far as to vacation together.
One of the characters is a wrestling aficionado ... Read More
Rating:  - Lightweight Literature
"The 158-Pound Marriage" is Irving's third novel, but it bears the seal of his trademark conversational prose, his sleek sparsity. The man is a prose pro -- even at this early point in his career -- capable of turning the simplest of descriptions into something fulsomely beautiful, larger than the sum of its parts.
However, just because someone knows how to write, that doesn't mean they know what they're writing about. In this book, Irving tries real hard to make a very little look like a whole ... Read More
Rating:  - The weakest of Irving's early works.
If one views the works of John Irving as a whole, this novel stands out like a sore thumb. Published in 1974, it is, without a doubt, a product of its time - when sexual freedom and experimentation were rampant and menage a quatres, such as described in the novel, were not that uncommon. Although encompassing many of the Irving themes: Vienna, wrestling, infidelity, and his character's propensity for emotionally destroying one another, it lacks the magic and playfulness of his other works. Irving's "story within ... Read More
Rating: - An interesting novel of personal interaction
Being brand new to John Irving, I decided to grab the smallest novel he wrote to see what his writing style was like. This novel provides the story of two couples and their wife swapping, intermingled with their past histories.
I found the history and back story somewhat interesting, but not mundane minglings in the midst of war atrocities, art dealings, college wrestling tournaments, and in their suburban family life.
However, the mundane nature of their lives, even though appropriate in ... Read More
Rating: - Writing, Wrestling, Bears, and Vienna
The above being the 4 things Irving is most known for in his books. Thank God there are no bears in this one. What is present are 2 couples who mutually agree to swap lovers to spice up their lives. Only something happens that hurts this little arrangement: husband and wife from marriage #1 fall in love with the wife and husband from marriage #2. Only, the feelings aren't reciprocated. Jealousy, competitiveness, contempt, and bitterness follow. The couples' children are totally ignored except when one of them is almost ... Read More
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