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The Fourth Hand
 
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The Fourth Hand (Hardcover)

by John Irving (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (194 customer reviews)

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2 new from CDN$ 38.95 13 used from CDN$ 0.74 3 collectible from CDN$ 16.95

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Product Details

Product Description

From Amazon.com

Like anything newsworthy, miracles of medicine and technology inevitably make their way out of the headlines and become the stuff of fiction. In recent years readers have been absorbed by media accounts of a transplanted hand, an experiment that ultimately ended in amputation. Medical ethicists reason that a hand, unlike a heart or a liver--essential organs conveniently housed out of sight--is in full view and one of a pair, arguably dispensable. In his 10th novel, however, John Irving undertakes to imagine just such a transplant, which involves a donor, a recipient, a surgeon, a particular Green Bay Packer fan, and the remarkable left hand that brings them together.

Television reporter Patrick Wallingford becomes a story himself when he loses his hand to a caged lion while in India covering a circus. The moment is captured live on film, and Patrick (who wears a "perpetual but dismaying smile--the look of someone who knows he's met you before but can't recall the exact occasion") is henceforth known as the lion guy. Before long, plans are made to equip Patrick with a new hand. Doctor Nicholas M. Zajac, superstar surgeon, indefatigable dog-poop scooper, runner, and part-time father, is poised to perform the operation. But the donor--or rather the widow of the donor--has a few stipulations. Doris Clausen wants to meet the one-handed reporter before the procedure, and insists on visitation rights afterward. Irving weaves these characters and a panoply of others together in a smart, funny, readable narrative. Often farcical, The Fourth Hand is ultimately something more: a tender chronicle of the redemptive power of love. --Victoria Jenkins

From Publishers Weekly

As the world watches, handsome TV journalist Patrick Wallingford, who is obsessed with minutely described one-night stands, has his hand eaten by a lion at the Gnesh Circus. (The gnesh is an Indian symbol of new beginnings). Viewer Doris and her husband Otto are obsessed with the Green Bay Packers and with having a child. Doris cajoles Otto into willing his left hand to Patrick and surprise! Otto soon (accidentally?) kills himself. Famous hand surgeon Nicholas Zajak is, for his part, obsessed with dog feces also described in endless detail which he scoops up with his old lacrosse stick and hurls at rowers on the Charles River. Zajak attaches Otto's hand to Patrick, and Doris demands visitation rights with Otto's hand, as well as with Patrick's child-producing equipment. Though their motivations remain unclear, all three characters are redeemed by their newfound obsessions with winning the love of their sons. Culp's clear, pleasant, middle-range reading voice, appropriately ironic tone and fun, exaggerated Boston accents are easy on the ears. Simultaneous release with Random House hardcover (Forecasts, June 25).

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

194 Reviews
5 star:
 (25)
4 star:
 (48)
3 star:
 (36)
2 star:
 (38)
1 star:
 (47)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (194 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1.0 out of 5 stars Give That Man A Hand--NOT!, Oct 6 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Fourth Hand (Audio CD)
This book clinches it -- John Irving is very overrated. This book was mildly entertaining at first but quickly became tedious, irritating, and a waste of time to read. I ended the book with an overwhelming feeling of "so what?" Don't waste your time!
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3.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Weak., Jun 18 2003
By James Frohnhofer "fijimf" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book could certainly win the 'Write a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romantic comedy in the style of a John Irving novel.' competition, but other than that couldn't win anything.

Three stars, because even at his worst John Irving is better than most of what's being published today.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Another First Class Effort, Aug 20 2002
By Grey W. Satterfield Jr. (Oklahoma City, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Fourth Hand (Audio CD)
Ever since "The World According to Garp," John Irving has been one of my favorite philosophers. His work in "The Fourth Hand" has not caused me to change my mind. Irving's ability to create funny and three-dimensional characters, while making thoughtful commentary on the human condition, is unparalleled in modern literature. Patrick Wallingford, Irving's mutilated protagonist, is a shallow, womanizing pretty-boy who, nevertheless, grows as a person before our eyes. The woman who becomes the love of his life, Doris Clausen, is good hearted and sexy, but preternaturally weird.

Nobody does set pieces that are both funny and poignant, and full of both bitterness and love, than Irving. He does it again here. His description of Wallingford's tryst with a gum-chewing makeup girl, and its attendant complications, is worth the price of the book. Irving's side of the mouth dismissal of cable news as shallow, callous, insincere, and intrusive is right on the mark, too, it seems to me.

Irving's usual devices, maiming, violent death, the love of a child, wild animals (lions this time, not bears) and circuses are in evidence here. Nobody understands the chaos that is life better than Irving, but his optimism and his obvious love for his characters make that recognition fun and instructive, not off-putting.

I heard this book on tape. Jason Culp, who reads this audio book is very effective. Finally, I give this Irving outing 4 stars out of 5 instead of 5 out of 5 only because of his obsession with Wallingford's hand. Although Irving has used traumatic amputations in other books, they have never before been the central theme of any one of them, as is the case in "The Fourth Hand." In fact, it is for this reason that I (uncharacteristically for a John Irving novel) waited as long as I did to read it. I highly recommended it, anyway.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars one hand clapping!
First, my review is of the unabridged audiocassette and ONLY the cassette version. I have a feeling I would have hated this had I tried to read it myself. Read more
Published on Jun 13 2002 by jedbird

3.0 out of 5 stars better than some, not as good as others
this book was good but it didn't knock my socks off. mr irving is one of my favorite writers but this novel seemed like it was rushed to the printers. Read more
Published on Jun 5 2002 by tim camas

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not Irving's best
At a mere 300-some pages, this feels like a short story from Irving. It didn't have the broad sweep of the history of the world that is so characteristic of Irving's works from... Read more
Published on May 10 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars What a load of rubbish .....................
This is quite clearly the worse book I have ever read. Was this some sort of joke or was Irving also high on the drug that was administered to the main character when he lost his... Read more
Published on April 29 2002 by capricornlady

4.0 out of 5 stars Dear John
Dear John, - Strange, but excellent writing (as usual)...You've given me so much to think about: the role of the press (TV_CNN) in our society; the meaning of marriage, sex,... Read more
Published on April 28 2002 by Elizabeth Harvey

1.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS REALLY REALLY BAD
I can't believe how bad this book was! It was so painful for me to read it. I've read every single John Irving book, and this book was so bad that I will no longer read another... Read more
Published on April 20 2002 by N. Cho

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as intriguing as the others
The Fourth Hand is certainly a work by John Irving. It has a main character who has peculiarities and who lives in an atmosphere of oddities. Read more
Published on Mar 31 2002 by John Rice

3.0 out of 5 stars I am looking for the meaning
I am sure that there is some wonderful message that I should have gotten from this book, but I still don't get it.
Published on Mar 26 2002

2.0 out of 5 stars Stop After You Read "A Widow for One Year"
If only John Irving had hung up his pen after he wrote "A Widow for One Year." Irving claims this book attempts to answer a question about dreams - how do you know when... Read more
Published on Mar 14 2002 by Trust Me

3.0 out of 5 stars man loses hand, gains a soul
This is not John Irving's best by a long shot, but it is still a good read. He seems to have borrowed heavily from his past novels: The World According to Garp (woman has sex with... Read more
Published on Mar 5 2002 by Saima Huq

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