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A Prayer for Owen Meany

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A Prayer for Owen Meany

By: John Irving
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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About this listen

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Of all of John Irving's books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. In print, Owen Meany's dialogue is set in capital letters; for this production, Irving himself selected Joe Barrett to deliver Meany's difficult voice as intended.

In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys – best friends – are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary and terrifying.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of John Irving's book, you'll also get an exclusive Jim Atlas interview that begins when the audiobook ends.

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Critic reviews

“John Irving, who writes novels in the unglamorous but effective way Babe Ruth used to hit home runs, deserves a medal not only for writing this book but for the way he has written it. . . . A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation in the somehow exhausted world of late twentieth-century fiction—it is an amazingly brave piece of work . . . so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. . . . Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world.” (Stephen King)
"Roomy, intelligent, exhilarating, and darkly comic...Dickensian in scope....Quite stunning and very ambitious." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"This moving book comes across like a concerto in this audio version, with a soloist—Owen's voice—rising from the background of an orchestral narration. This book, one of the finest of its time, gets the narration that it deserves." ( AudioFile)
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Let it just keep going, because the start is a little slow. It's long - and it will be worth every minute of your time.



Beautiful writing, and such expert narration.



Sad and sobering though some of the story is, it's not written in a way that cynically tries to milk the pathos. In fact, most of the sad incidents are dealt with in such a matter-of-fact way, it helps you to deal with it, too. It is also a very funny book, with sly, sideways humour and sometimes some pure slapstick comic passages.



I really did love this book and was very sad to leave it.

Just listen - it will captivate you

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This is a fine book, and in Owen Meany, the author has created a truly memorable character. It is not a fast paced listen, but somehow manages to retain your interest throughout. John Irving's prose can plod at times - I did muse what this story might have been like in the hands of, say, Vladimir Nabokov - and this plodding is not helped by what at times is a rather worthy narration, but to be fair to the narrator he does do Owen Meany himself brilliantly, and generally holds your interest.

All that said, I did enjoy the book a lot, and have downloaded another of John Irving's books as a result.

A fine book

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Would you listen to A Prayer for Owen Meany again? Why?

again and again . I am a retired opera director and I have not been so moved by a story in years. This is a truly great novel and must be listened to slowly, savouring each chapter.The reader is flawless. It takes a great actor to give the right dimension to a great character.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Every character is wonderfully drawn . I love them all. Such humanity, such vision. This is now my favourite novel of all times!

Have you listened to any of Joe Barrett’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No but I sure will from now on. I have already looked him up

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The novel is too great to be reduced to an hour and a half movie

Any additional comments?

Thank you Audible for commissioning the recording of this book. That you Joe Barratt for your imagination and acting skills and above all thank you John Irving for this great , great novel.

Unspeakably moving.

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I love this story, it is wholly unique and surprising and is about such a small and yet big idea that it knocks your socks off. Read this story.

I just wish it were true.. I know its not, but it has embedded itself into my mind as if it is. In senility in years to come i'll tell people about little Owen, and his strange life.

I can still here the voice.

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this is a beautiful story that is very well told. I also enjoyed the half an hour or so interview with John Irving at the end. more audiobooks should have such extras!

exceptional book, very well narrated

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