In the following excerpt, Reilly provides an overview of the settings, characters, themes, and literary techniques employed in Irving's fiction.

In the following review, Towers offers praise for A Son of the Circus.

In the following review, Rosenheim offers a generally favorable assessment of The Imaginary Girlfriend.

There's no hiding that I'm a Garp-hater. I was put off by the [casual cruelty of The World According to Garp], by its calculated, unwieldy plot and its staggering long-windedness…. However, this is not to say that I'm a John Irving-hater, by any means. I admire his other writing immensely. He made a wonderful debut with Setting Free the Bears, his first novel…. Three by Irving contains not only [Setting Free the Bears, but also The Water-Method Man and The 158-Pound Marria...

Irving's first novel, "Setting Free the Bears" received the kind of critical praise that makes one approach his second, "The Water-Method Man" with a certain amount of caution. But the first few chapters of this new work dispel any doubts about the sustained vigor of his talent. He quickly reasserts his inventiveness, wit and obvious ability to devour new experiences, digest them rapidly and convert them into imaginative symbols and lively literary episodes…. ...