SOURCE: Miller, Gabriel. “Portrait of the Artist as a Nervous Wreck.” In John Irving, pp. 88-126. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1982.

In the following essay, Miller offers a critical analysis of The World according to Garp in regards to the development of Irving's writing style throughout the novel and throughout his career.

When T. S. Garp gives one of his early stories to his girl friend Helen, he is at first hurt—and then made even more determined to become a great writer—by her critique: “This story shows promise, although I do think, at this point, you are more of a wrestler than a writer.” Whereas Irving's own first three novels demonstrate too much developing talent to be dismissed simply as “wrestling,” they are, nevertheless, a working out, a movement toward a design and an imaginative rendering of a world view. The World According to Garp, on the...