In One Person

John Irving

May 2012 · Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

From the author of A Prayer for Owen Meany and The World According to Garp comes "his most daringly political, sexually transgressive, and moving novel in well over a decade" (Vanity Fair).

A New York Times bestselling 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 of In One Person, 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.

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."

Ratings and reviews

Although I've yet to read an Irving book I've disliked, this one feels overly slow at times. The story is beautifully written and the characters as human and flawed as you would expect from an author of Irving's caliber, the pacing felt rushed when I wanted to savor the moment, and slow when the details seemed trivial. Overall, a good read. Looking forward to the next story.

The story was interesting at first, but then it felt like it got lost in the 'time shifting'. I really wanted to enjoy the book I guess I couldn't relate.

Plot & characters are well knitted but the topic is so familiar and tends towards melodramatic and passionate. Anyway it's a work of art.

About the author

John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 1980, Mr. Irving won a National Book Award for his novel The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for his novel In One Person. Internationally renowned, his novels have been translated into almost forty languages. His all-time bestselling novel, in every language, is A Prayer for Owen Meany. A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, John Irving lives in Toronto.