{"product_id":"9780552992046","title":"John Irving - The Cider House Rules","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten by John Irving. Themes include Fiction, Literary, Coming of Age, Family Life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942, and he once admitted that he was a 'grim' child. Although he excelled in English at school and knew by the time he graduated that he wanted to write novels, it was not until he met a young Southern novelist named John Yount, at the University of New Hampshire, that he received encouragement. 'It was so simple, ' he remembers. 'Yount was the first person to point out that anything I did except writing was going to be vaguely unsatisfying.' In 1963, Irving enrolled at the Institute of European Studies in Vienna, and he later worked as a university lecturer. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, about a plot to release all the animals from the Vienna Zoo, was followed by The Water-Method Man, a comic tale of a man with a urinary complaint, and The 158-Pound Marriage, which exposes the complications of spouse-swapping. Irving achieved international recognition with The World According to Garp, which he hoped would 'cause a few smiles among the tough-minded and break a few softer hearts'. The Hotel New Hampshire is a startlingly original family saga, and The Cider House Rules is the story of Doctor Wilbur Larch - saint, obstetrician, founder of an orphanage, ether addict and abortionist - and of his favourite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll books at Vastela are pre-owned. Condition varies from good to near-new. No book is sold in unacceptable condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vastela Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58476115460470,"sku":null,"price":5.9,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0707\/7144\/1981\/files\/9780552992046.jpg?v=1786993462","url":"https:\/\/www.vastelabooks.com\/products\/9780552992046","provider":"Vastela Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}