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After reading the autobiographical section of this book, i wanted to learn more about wrestling. WRESTLING! Why would i want that? Well, John Irving did a supert job piquing my curiousity. It takes some skill to make the reader interested in something that they had not ever considered.The part where John Irving talks about his sons made me admire him so much. He truly loves his children and has such a beautiful way to express it. This autobiography is my favorite part of the book.The short stories are OK, but they can't match the quality of the autobiography. After reading it, i can understand Garp and Cider House Rules so much better. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know John Irving.

Piggy Sneed was a terrible letdown for this old Irving fan. It is a rambling, terribly self-indulgent hodge-podge of previously published short works and reviews interspersed with biographical and retrospective bits and pieces--including the obligatory pics of the kids! I've enjoyed everything Irving has written previously. Both Garp and Cider House Rules would be on my Best 100 list of Western literature. So, I did not hesitate to pick up this little Piggy without vetting it first. Well, next time, I'll be more cautious with Mr. Irving. John, this is the kind of stuff your estate could let out after you are dead, like the newly found Beatles studio tapes. For someone looking for personal anecdotes and some insight into your life, it could even be helpful. But, I wasn't looking for stuff for a book report. I was looking for a good read. Congrats on having your publisher in your back pocket; and John, now that those overdue bills are out of the way, how about writing something nice for us, huh? A little grist for the mill, perhaps. That last bit of chaff did not grind well at all.

I found this book remaindered, popped it open, and was delighted to find details of wrestling at Exeter. I wrestled there in the early '60s, too. This gave me a chance to see "Johnny" (as I recall him) Irving's powers of recollection at play. His memory of the smell of the dirt in the cage floor (while the frozen winter soil outside would yield no smell until spring) when wrestling in "the pit" was a detail for me comparable to Proust's encounter with the smell of Madeleines in "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu." While I don't have patience for Irving's fiction, I'd like to see some stabs at journalism or nonfiction observation from him. The Piggy Sneed story is a wonderful gem.

I've read all of John Irving's novels, but somehow let this book get by. Having just finished it (soon after reading A Widow For One Year), I have mixed feelings. I would love to read Irving's memoirs, but I'm more interested in his family life than all that wrestling business. One can't help imagine that there is a lot of John Irving in T.S. Garp and Johnny Wheelwright and John Berry, but Irving does not reveal this. The short stories and his comments on them are well worth it, though. When he calls one story amateurish to the point of embarrassment, I can't help but think "I only wish I could write one story as well as Irving's worst." For fans of the Irving mystique it's a must read, but for others I'd say go straight to The Pension Grillparzer.

After following his career for years, from Garp to A Son of the Circus, this little volume of short stories and essays proved to be a real treat. Don't miss Mr. Irving's hilarious account of his dinner at the White House as well as his account of the 1992 presidential election. This book is pure gold