A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving
Buy on Amazon“I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he was the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” In the summer of 1953, two eleven-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.
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"“A Prayer for Owen Meany,” by John Irving. While a little more idealistic than I personally feel capable of aspiring to, the philosophy of this book strikes me as pertinent for a person in power. It’s a beautifully written, inspiring story."
By the Book: Amanda Knox · nytimes.com
"I am repeatedly drawn back to that strange and touching masterpiece, John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989)."
By the Book: Jan Morris · nytimes.com
By the Book: Jason Reynolds · nytimes.com
"The first-person narrator of “A Prayer for Owen Meany” is called (behind his back) a “non-practicing homosexual”; he doesn’t just love Owen Meany, he’s probably in love with Owen, but he’ll never come out of the closet and say so."
By the Book: John Irving · nytimes.com