John Irving's 10 Favorite Books (Best Book Recommendations)

John Irving's 10 Favorite Books

John Irving was kind enough to provide his 10 favorite books to the authors of The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books.

onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/1_Great_Expectations');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141439564'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/1_Great_Expectations');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141439564'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#1: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Amazon readers say: "Hands down best book I've ever read." "A classic tale of love and agony." "Worth the effort." "No contemporary writer can touch this stuff..." onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/1_Great_Expectations');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141439564'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/1_Great_Expectations');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141439564'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 544 page paperback \|$8.00 \|119 reviews This book also appears on Nick Hornby's Favorite Books


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/2_Tess_of_the_dUrbervilles');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375756795'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/2_Tess_of_the_dUrbervilles');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375756795'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#2: Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, James Wood Amazon says: Etched against the background of a dying rural society, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" was Thomas Hardy's 'bestseller,' and Tess Durbeyfield remains his most striking and tragic heroine. Of all the characters he created, she meant the most to him. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/2_Tess_of_the_dUrbervilles');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375756795'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/2_Tess_of_the_dUrbervilles');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375756795'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 544 page paperback \|$9.00 \|5 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/3_MobyDick');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0142437247'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/3_MobyDick');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0142437247'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#3: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville Amazon readers say: "Quite simply, the greatest American novel, ever." "A deep and profound book, not for the casual reader." "One of the great American novels of all time." "The greatest American literature ever." onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/3_MobyDick');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0142437247'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/3_MobyDick');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0142437247'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 720 page paperback \|$10.40 \|318 reviews This book also appears on: Joyce Carol Oates' 10 Favorite Books Michael Chabon's 10 Favorite Books What Barack Obama Reads and Recommends


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/4_The_Scarlet_Letter');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553210092'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/4_The_Scarlet_Letter');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553210092'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#4: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Amazon says: Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country," Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" reaches to our nation's historical and moral roots for the material of great tragedy. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/4_The_Scarlet_Letter');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553210092'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/4_The_Scarlet_Letter');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553210092'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 256 page paperback \|$3.95 \|408 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/5_The_Mayor_of_Casterbridge');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375760067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/5_The_Mayor_of_Casterbridge');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375760067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#5: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy Amazon says: One of Hardy's most powerful novels, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" opens with a shocking and haunting scene: In a drunken rage, Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter to a visiting sailor at a local fair. When they return to Casterbridge some nineteen years later, Henchard, having gained power and success as the mayor, finds he cannot erase the past or the guilt that consumes him. "The Mayor of Casterbridge" is a rich, psychological novel about a man whose own flaws combine with fate to cause his ruin. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/5_The_Mayor_of_Casterbridge');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375760067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/5_The_Mayor_of_Casterbridge');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0375760067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 416 page paperback \|$7.95 \|76 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/6_David_Copperfield');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0192835785'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/6_David_Copperfield');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0192835785'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#6: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/6_David_Copperfield');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0192835785'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/6_David_Copperfield');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0192835785'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 912 page paperback \|$8.95 \|104 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/7_Madame_Bovary');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140449124'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/7_Madame_Bovary');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140449124'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#7: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/7_Madame_Bovary');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140449124'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/7_Madame_Bovary');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140449124'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 384 page paperback \|$8.80 \|21 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/8_Fifth_Business');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141186151'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/8_Fifth_Business');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141186151'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#8: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/8_Fifth_Business');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141186151'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/8_Fifth_Business');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0141186151'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 272 page paperback \|$11.20 \|58 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/9_One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060929790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/9_One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060929790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#9: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/9_One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060929790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/9_One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0060929790'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 464 page paperback \|price varies \|441 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/10_The_Tin_Drum');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/067972575X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/10_The_Tin_Drum');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/067972575X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">#10: The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/10_The_Tin_Drum');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/067972575X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/John_Irvings_10_Favorite_Books/10_The_Tin_Drum');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/067972575X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 592 page paperback \|$10.85 \|90 reviews

Know any books we should add to the list above? .