John Irving

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John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.

Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of ''The World According to Garp'' in 1978. Many of Irving's novels, including ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1981), ''The Cider House Rules'' (1985), ''A Prayer for Owen Meany'' (1989), and ''A Widow for One Year'' (1998), have been bestsellers. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 72nd Academy Awards (1999) for his script of ''The Cider House Rules''.

Five of his novels have been adapted into films (''Garp'', ''Hotel'' ''New Hampshire'', ''Owen Meany'', ''Cider House'', and ''Widow for One Year''). Several of Irving's books and short stories have been set in and around New England, in fictional towns resembling Exeter, New Hampshire.