The World According to Garp by John Irving

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The World According to Garp
437 pages; Ballantine Books
Tender, violent, ribald and dizzyingly complex, Irving's unlikely feminist manifesto, featuring T.S. Garp and his fantastically fierce mother, Jenny Fields, broke the mold when it hit shelves back in 1978. All these years later, this deeply humane novel continues to amaze—still exerting, yes, an unusually strong Under Toad.
— Leigh Haber