What We're Listening to: Abby

Last Night in Twisted River: a novel by John Irving. Random House Audio, Unabridged Edition, 20 Discs (24.5 hrs) Read by Arthur Morey.

Last fall I went to see John Irving speak about his new book, Last Night in Twisted River. I have been a huge fan of his for many years and have enjoyed his previous novels tremendously. It was very exciting to listen to the author talk about his process. I was fascinated to learn that he always starts with the last sentence! Once he has the last sentence the rest falls into place.

Now that I knew the secrets behind the genius and I had heard the author read from the book, I was very excited to listen to it for myself. Unfortunately, that excitement soon dissipated. There were the quirky characters and unexpected twists and turns as well as the prerequisite bears but the story was so boring I kept wondering why his editor didn't trim down the long winded and overly detailed sections. But being such a loyal fan I stuck with it, all 24.5 hours of it and for that I think I deserve some kind of award! I can't say that I would recommend this book. If you haven't read John Irving, try his earlier novels, this one doesn't quite live up to my expectations.