John Irving
1942-
Birthplace: Exeter, New Hampshire.
Typewriter: IBM Selectrics*

John Irving is an author whose sprawling fourth novel, The World According to Garp (1978; film, 1982), earned him a huge following and a National Book Award nomination. The story of an eccentric feminist and her writer son, it displays the same delight in language and narrative exuberance that characterized his previous novels, Setting Free the Bears (1968), The Water Method Man (1972) and The 158-Pound Marriage (1974). The Hotel New Hampshire (1981; film, 1984) is, like Garp, a family saga. The Cider House Rules (1985) is ranked by many as Irving's best novel. A Prayer for Owen Meany was published in 1989.

According an interview with Salon.com in March 2000, Irving currently owns six old IBM Seletrics and he doesn’t know anything about Internet because he doesn’t have a computer.