I'm a huge fan of at least half of John Irving's fiction titles, so it pains me greatly to say I can't think of any compelling reason to partake of the Irving-salad Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, a mishmash of memoir, short stories and fawning lit crit that just doesn't do anything for me except wish I was reading one of his novels. His excruciatingly-detailed look back on his wrestling career (both as participant and as coach) entitled, perversely, "The Imaginary Girlfriend", is dull as dishwater...

A forgettable Irving book, compared to the likes of OWEN MEANY.

Trying to Save Piggy Sneed is a most interesting assortment of memoir, short stories, and essays. I enjoyed Irving's stories about wrestling and being a referee for that sport, his intriguing short stories, and the explanations of them that followed. Also, he has quite a few interesting anecdotes, especially the one about meeting Thomas Mann's daughter on a plane, quite by coincidence. (Elizabeth Mann Borgese was an oceanographer who had trained her dog, Claudio, to play piano. I am not making t...

Buddy of mine gave me this at a party last spring. I'd never read Irving and wanted to give him a shot. This book is a collection of short works, split into three sections. The first is "memoir." This section concludes with an interminable tale of every wrestling match that Irving had either competed in, presided over as an official or even heard a story about. Scores and moves and competitors names that draw out into the most specifically uninteresting writing imaginable. After being bogged dow...

For Irving completists like me. Some memoir, some short stories, some works praising Dickens and Gunter Grass. The stories range from good (Almost In Iowa) to terrific (The Pension Grillparzer). The memoirs are mostly interesting, with a very, very detailed account of his love of wrestling and his wrestling career (The Imaginary Girlfriend), his politics (My Dinner at the White House), and the wonderful title memoir detailing why he became a writer. The last third of the book praising Charles Di...

Some entertaining and original tales - John Irving certainly has a good imagination!! Pension Grillparzer is particularly worth reading and particularly odd!

There are two versions of this book - this version contains 8 pieces of work:Memoirs: "Trying to Save Piggy Sneed" Fiction "Interior Space" "Almost in Iowa" "Weary Kingdom" "Brennbar's Rant" "Other People's Dreams" "The Pension Grillparzer" Homage "The King of the Novel"The other volume, of the same name, is longer and contains 12 pieces of work, including The Imaginary Girlfriend, which is available under separate cover:Memoirs "Trying to Save Piggy Sneed" "The Imaginary Girlfriend" "My Dinner

Irving has put together a selection of fiction and non-fiction in this collection of short stories and essays from his literary career. He has divided the volume into three parts: Memoirs, Fiction and Homage. Each piece is followed by a section in which Irving comments on the piece, placing it in an historical context, providing insightful and often funny comments on how the story began as well other interesting personal thoughts. Irving begins the "Memoir" section, with the piece that graces th...

I'm sorry to say I did not love this book. I thought reading the memoir of such a creative and talented fiction author would be at least somewhat entertaining. Instead I got a blow by blow recap of every wrestling match John Irving has ever been in... or refereed...or that his sons were in...or that some guy he met in college but can't remember his name was in. This continues to a point of absurdity, and I'm not even sure hardcore wrestling fans could stay interested. If you pick up this book I

Now I know where Garp comes from! This is an essential book to know Irving and his life. True, there is a bit too much on the wrestling bits. The short stories are nice. I knew Grillsparzer from before and in this book I really loved - 'Interior Space' and 'Other People's Dreams'. Interior Space is a germ of a short story- many lives, many stories and he beautifully crafted everything in. I want to read it again, I think. Did not read into the last bits of the book- where its about Irving's homa...

I was almost finished with this book of short stories and essays and then... decided not to finish. I liked elements of this collection of tales and disliked others. So ultimately ambivalent. Worth reading... not worth finishing. Haha!

I love John Irving. This book is a memoir about wrestling, his short stories, Dickens and a German author who I should’ve remembered but didn’t. Sorry. Needless to say I downloaded Dickens numerous stories to Nook for $2.99. It made an impact. Though I don’t think I’ll be wrestling anytime soon.

An amazing collection.

I came across this collection a few months ago. After reading it I think it is safe to say that this is a collection best suited for those who would call themselves super fans of the author's work. And, although I do not know if I ever realized it, I might well be one of these people. I, at least, have to say that his collection of eighties books from The Hotel New Hampshire, Garp, The Cider House Rules, and everybody's favorite A Prayer for Owen Meany, is, it itself a grouping that is more than...

Average rating: 2.75My first Irving experience and...it was a mixed bag. A couple of stories were great, but most of them were disappointing. A positive that came out of this, though, is that it really made me want to read more of Irving's books; I loved his style of writing, but some of the subjects here were simply boring. Despite this, I enjoyed the book overall. It felt like a literary version of a sketch book: a book of short, beautifully written works of art.Below are some short comments a...

Getting to know John IrvingThis book is a wonderful introduction to what makes Irving the writer and person he is. All short pieces, both fiction and non-fiction, there is enough variety here to fully represent the man. Each piece is followed by "author's notes," in which Mr. Irving explains, basically, "where he was coming from" when he wrote them. Very enjoyable reading.

John Irving tells us at the start of this collection that his grandmother, who helped raise him, never read his work with much pleasure. I know how she feels. This book left me cold. The first part was interesting enough, where he talks about the job of being an author, how writing is a “strenuous marriage between careful observation and just as carefully imagining the truths you haven’t had the opportunity to see”. The last chapter, a homage to Charles Dickens, was also a good read, particularl...

I gave this book a three star only because I truly enjoy reading John Irving. This book however was somewhat of a letdown. Trying to Save Piggy Sneed is a compilation of Short Stories by John Irving along with his reviews of his writings, his personal memoirs, critical reviews of his favorite authors, as well as his meeting with the daughter of Thomas Mann. It just seemed like a mish-mash of writings and thoughts that would have been better done individually. I love Charles Dickens too, but didn...

This is Irving's only collection of "short work." The memoir The Imaginary Girlfriend covers the same ground as most of his novels but is still must read for Irving fans. The title memoir is also fantastic, though I have my doubts about how factual it is. His memoir about having dinner with President Reagan is hilarious. The short stories, made up of works that Irving completed while getting his MFA, are interesting but not his best work. It isn't hard to figure out why Irving gave up on short p...

I would call this collection so-so. The memoir The Invisible Girlfriend was a a tedious read. It is 80% blow by blow accounts of wrestling matches. Not being a wrestling fan, I had trouble keeping with it. The first memoir piece in the collection, which shares the book's title, Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, was a lot more enjoyable, as were the short stories and essays that followed them.Also interesting are the author's notes that follow each piece, in which Irving reflects on the work, the conte...

Well, I learned that I don't like Irving's short pieces as much as I like his novels. I think his novels give the space required for all of his weird specific details to breathe and intertwine. I did like having the author's notes after each piece to see his perspective and process.I admit that I didn't finish the last three essays in the book, which are in homage to writers he admires (and which I haven't read myself).

I don't know what this was about. It wasn't awful. The writing was skillful, it just wasn't interesting.

Go for the alternative edition, which also contains memoirs from Irving's childhood.

formerly chuck's

John Irving is one of my favorite authors, and this collection of some of his shorter works has been gathering dust on my bookshelf for far too long. Containing memoirs (including the title piece, which qualifies itself by pointing out that memoirs are by necessity "false" - based only on the imperfect memory of the author), short stories and homage to other authors. As Irving's fan, I of course most enjoyed the memoirs, which gave a peek into his world and the development of his character, and

John Irving is hands down my favorite contemporary author. I'm always nervous that the next thing I read will change my opinion of him, but I just love him more the more of his work I read. When I realized this was a mix of memoirs, short fiction, and nonfiction, my usual anxiety kicked in. Maybe eventually I will learn to let that go. Like everything else I have read from Irving, this book surpassed all my expectations.Beginning with memoirs, Irving sets the pace for an intimate look at his pri...

In the past I've associated Irving with big sprawling 600 page novels, but as you'd expect he's a splendid writer of short fiction also. Trying To Save Piggy Sneed is a slim collection of six short stories and two essays.Interior Space is markedly better than the other short stories, in both complexity and pleasure. This really felt like it could've been expanded or incorporated into a full length novel, and, ah, how I wish it were so. Teenage gonorrhea, a boisterous German, new age interior des...

This is a book for die hard John Irving fans, but since I count myself in their ranks, I enjoyed it. It is a collection of shorter works, interspersed with Irving's commentary on them. It's interesting to see what he has to say about his own writing. I didn't always agree with what he had to say, but that's fine. His notes always gave me a deeper insight into his work, even where my opinions may differ from his.By Irving's own confession, he is more a novelist than a short story writer. I agree....

I really liked a great deal of this book. It is a collection of short memoir pieces, short fiction, and essays. The memoir pieces are nice although there is quite a bit about wrestling in there, my son wrestled and I didn't mind so much although there was QUITE A BIT about wrestling. The short fiction pieces were mostly good with a couple of exceptions that Irving himself didn't seem to like too much. I didn't like the one about politically correct people because I am tired of people taking pots...

I love John Irving. I discovered him with “Son of the Circus”. It wasn’t an easy novel to begin. I wasn’t at all sure how to “take” Irving’s eclectic characters. However, we often don’t choose with whom we fall in love. I fell in love with Irving novels. “A Prayer of Owen Meany” is perhaps the most cherished work, for me, of all time. I didn’t know that “Trying to Save Piggy Sneed” was a memoir when I started reading. I’m not disappointed. Mr. Irving led me to Frederick Buechner’s “The Book of B...