Truly the 'Last Night in Twisted River'

I finished John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River the other night and while I enjoyed it, this novel is not among my favorite of Irving's work. While Last Night in Twisted River treads on familiar territory (see "recurring themes), it is different and more distant. For example, the primary character, Danny experiences his sexual awakening with an older woman in his early teen years, much like many young men in several of Irving's other works. However, in Last Night in Twisted River, Danny's experience is revealed dispassionately, much later in the novel, almost in passing. While the narration explains and details the relationship, there is very little exploration of this experience's impact on Danny's life. While most of the book follows Danny's view, it is written from a third person point of view and remains very detached. What I've always enjoyed about Irving's writing is that it makes the novel very visceral - I've always felt plunged into the story, unable to pull myself out and totally unwilling to do so. I first picked up A Widow for One Year in my high school library years ago because I found the cover intriguing and now that I'm examining the cover art for Last Night in Twisted River, the artwork falls into the same category as that for A Widow for One Year. What I like about both covers is that they each take one key image, yet not the focus and use it in a way that is ambiguous and clear. A Widow for One Year features an empty picture hook, which upon the conclusion of the novel I found it brilliant - it is symbolic without being heavy handed and yet before I read the novel I found it interesting. I did not think much about the cover art for Last Night in Twisted River until I looked for an image to post and found two. The blue background is the one I've seen everywhere, but the yellow background was new to me. After I saw the yellow version I realized the significance of the cover and while the book did not impact me as profoundly as A Widow for One Year, I appreciate the subtly and significance of the artwork. Last Night in Twisted River was not my favorite Irving, but solid fans should check it out - Irving knows how to write about Americans experiencing its history while muddling through their own lives.

- KER