Last Night in Twisted River
First Canadian edition cover
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| Author | John Irving |
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| Cover artist | Everett Irving |
| Country | Netherlands / Canada / United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published |
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| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 576 pp |
| ISBN | (CA) 1-4000-6384-1 (US) |
| OCLC | 303040526 |
| Preceded by | Until I Find You |
| Followed by | In One Person |
Last Night in Twisted River is a 2009 novel by American writer John Irving, his 12th since 1968. It was first published (in English) in the Netherlands by De Bezige Bij on September 1, 2009, in Canada by Knopf Canada on October 20, 2009, and in the United States by Random House on October 27, 2009. The novel spans five decades and is about a boy and his father who flee the logging community of Twisted River on the Androscoggin River in northern New Hampshire after a tragic accident. While on the run, the boy grows up to become a famous writer, writing eight semi-autobiographical novels. The book was included in Time's 2009 list of "the fall's most anticipated movies, books, TV shows, albums and exhibits".
Last Night in Twisted River took 20 years to conceive and write, and is a story within a story that shows the development of a novelist and the writing process. It uses many of the themes and plot devices that have already seen treatment in other works by the author. The career of the novelist in the book closely tracks the career of Irving himself, making it Irving's most overtly autobiographical novel.
The book received mixed reviews in the press. The Independent called it Irving's most powerful work to date, while The Dallas Morning News admired Irving's modern version of the traditional flight and revenge theme. The New York Times was not as impressed and felt that with better editing it could have equaled some of Irving's more powerful works. The St. Petersburg Times described the novel as a "loose and baggy tale in search of a center".
"The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long."
The novel opens in 1954 in the small logging settlement of Twisted River on the Androscoggin River in northern New Hampshire. A log driving accident on the river has just claimed the life of a young logger, Angel, who slipped and fell under the logs. Dominic Baciagalupo is the camp's Italian-American cook who lives above the kitchen with his 12-year-old son, Daniel. Dominic lost his wife, Rosie, 10 years previously when a drunk Dominic, Rosie and a logger and mutual friend, Ketchum, were dancing on the frozen river, and the ice broke and Rosie went under. Later another accident happens that changes the lives of Dominic, Daniel and Ketchum. "Injun Jane", the kitchen's dishwasher and girlfriend of the local law officer, Constable Carl, is having an affair with Dominic. One night, mistaking her for a bear attacking his father, Daniel kills her with an eight-inch cast-iron skillet. Dominic takes Jane's body and deposits it on the kitchen floor of Carl's house, knowing that Carl will be passed out drunk and will probably believe he killed her, as he often beat her up. Early the next morning Dominic and Daniel tell Ketchum what happened and flee Twisted River in case the bad-tempered Carl finds out what really happened.
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