LAST NIGHT AT TWISTED RIVER -John Irving

First an admission, if I was pinned down and had to admit my favourite author and book, it would probably be John Irving and 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'. I find the epic nature of his finely drawn books, laid back humour and brilliant characterisation compelling; so I am not an utterly unbiased source on reviewing his latest offering. However, the master has been off-form of late - 'The Fourth Hand' while retaining the humour was far from his best and his last book 'Until I find you.' was well,  embarrassing. Is he past it?

It is said that all novels display an element of autobiography about them. If so, Irving had one extraordinary early life - from Homer Wells' teenage abortionist in 'The Cider House Rules' to Owen Meany's accidentally killing his best friend's mother with a baseball shot, teenage trauma is never far away.

In 'Last Night At Twisted River', the turning moment in a young life comes when the central character Dominic Baciagalupo is living with his widowed father in a New England logging camp in the 1950s. Being Irving, sex is never far away, and in this case it is the discovery of his father 'in flagrante' with a local woman and washer up, the 300lb - 'Injun Jane'. Our boy, fearing his father is being mauled by a bear, hits her on the head with an iron skillet, killing her outright. The rest, as they say - is history; as they flee the camp and Jane's partner, a vicious drunk of a local policeman, obsessed with revenge.

They are helped by a fellow river driver cum logger, who turns into one of Irving's finest creations. A rough, curmudgeonly and fiercely libertarian, almost wild man - Ketchum. He remains their protector from afar for the next fifty years and is a joy.

Life on the run over the following decades is a fine echo of American society over that time, and we see Dominic grow up to become a writer. It is during this period of his life that we see some fascinating thoughts that reflect Irving's own successes and views on his own carreer. The themes of many of Danny Angel's (Dominic's Nom de Plume) novels reflect those of Irving's and his criticism of the film industry no doubt reflects the fact that so few of Irving's books have been filmed, with the exception of the Oscar winning The Cider House Rules. Although I suspect that it is Ketchum who gives voice to Irving's politics.

This is, like most of his books, long - at 550 pages, but there is nothing that I would want to cut. I could happily have carried on reading it for months, I just wanted it to go on. It is not just a triumphant return to form, but I think that the best compliment I can pay it is that it is the sort of book you would expect from the author of  Garp, Cider House and Owen Meany - written with a life full of experience.

As our transatlantic cousins would say - Enjoy!