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The fourth hand

John Irving

2001316 pagesabout 5–7 hours
2001
first published
  • 2001Alfred A. Knopf Canada · 316 pages · ENGISBN 9780676973921
  • 2001Random House · 316 pages · ENGISBN 9780375506277
  • 2001Random House Large Print · 431 pages · ENGISBN 9780375431210
  • 2002Vintage Canada · 316 pages · ENGISBN 9780676973938

"The Fourth Hand asks an interesting question: "How can anyone identify a dream of the future?" The answer: "Destiny is not imaginable, except in dreams or to those in love."". "While reporting a story from India, a New York television journalist has his left hand eaten by a lion; millions of TV viewers witness the accident. In Boston, a renowned hand surgeon awaits the opportunity to perform the nation's first hand transplant; meanwhile, in the distracting aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, the surgeon is seduced by his housekeeper. A married woman in Wisconsin wants to give the one-handed reporter her husband's left hand - that is, after her husband dies. But the husband is alive, relatively young, and healthy."--BOOK JACKET.

How it feels

Emotional toneUnflinching

How it reads

Plot intensityCharacter driven
ComplexityLayered

Worth knowing

Romance levelCentral

When and where

ThemesLove

Content notesnot yet assessed

Quotesnone available

How do you feel?