"I believe it to be a work of genius... because of its absolutely irrepressible flow of invention and suggestion, expressed in some of the most fascinating prose written in fiction today. Originality has distinguished all Mr Irving's books, but in A Prayer For Owen Meany it achieves a new pitch and a new profundity" - Independent

"Marvellously funny... What better entertainment is there than a serious book which makes you laugh?" - Spectator

"So extraordinary, so original, and so enriching" - The Washington Post

"May justly join the classic American list" - Observer

"A heartbreaking masterpiece of a novel... tremendously ambitious and fiendishly clever" - Dominic Holland, Sunday Express