Author John Irving is well known for his books like The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. In 2009 he published his twelfth novel, Last Night in Twisted River. Irving grew up in New Hampshire, and now splits his time between East Dorset, Vermont and Toronto.
His novels often include biographic elements, and Last Night in Twisted River is no different. It’s about a writer named Danny Baciagalupo, who goes by the pen name Danny Angel. The story starts in a river town in northern New Hampshire when Danny is a boy. His father, Dominic Baciagalupo, is the cook at a logging camp. After a violent incident, the two are forced to flee. Over the following decades, Danny and his father make their lives in Boston, Iowa, Vermont, and Toronto. And along the way, Danny becomes a successful writer, much like Irving himself.
VPR’s Jane Lindholm sat down with Irving in his home office in East Dorset to talk about the book in this special two-part interview with the author.