Product Description

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. A married woman in Wisconsin wants to give the reporter her husband's hand, that is, after her husband dies. But the husband is very much alive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178430 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Fourth Hand is one of John Irving's finest novels to date. A man loses his hand. His search to become whole again soon makes him realise that it takes more than a new limb to find fulfilment. The novel begins with one of Irving's typically surreal scenarios: "Imagine a young man on his way to a less-than-thirty-second event--the loss of his left hand, long before he reached middle age." The unfortunate young man is the "irrefutably good-looking" television journalist Patrick Wallingford. While filing a report from a circus in India, Wallingford's left hand is eaten by a lion. Millions on TV watch the grisly scene. As friends and former lovers watch the disappearance of the reporter's hand, it becomes clear that:

Patrick Wallingford initiated nothing, yet he inspired sexual unrest and unnatural longing--even as he was caught in the act of feeding a lion his left hand. He was a magnet to women of all ages and types; even lying unconscious, he was a danger to the female sex

Bereft of his left hand, Wallingford ("the lion guy") finds that both his career and his already active sex life blossom. But "Dr. Nicholas M. Zajac, a hand surgeon with Schatzman, Gingeleskie, Mengerink & Associates", soon seduces him with the offer of a hand transplant. Unfortunately, "there were some strings attached to the donor hand" in the shape of its former owner's widow, Mrs Clausen from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Wallingford soon discovers that the transplant is only the beginning of his problems, as he goes in search of what transpires to be his "fourth hand". The Fourth Hand is a wonderfully funny and compulsive novel, which manages to encapsulate Irving's hallmark black humour with an incredibly tender pathos and gentle wisdom. Wallingford is a marvellous, flawed protagonist, a foolish, vain but ultimately decent man, while Zajac is one of Irving's finest comic creations. Above all, The Fourth Hand is a wonderful and lyrical love story, which is destined to become a classic. --Jerry Brotton

Review
Irving's latest novel kicks off with an extraordinary incident. Sent to cover a colourful "human interest" story in a circus in Gujarat, its protagonist - a New York TV journalist - becomes the story himself when he is mauled by a lion which takes his hand off at the wrist. The whole grisly thing is caught on camera and shown around the world. But that's not all. A viewer in Wisconsin is moved to "donate" her husband's hand as a replacement, in some pioneering surgery, The only problem being that her husband is still very much alive and well... Irving's book mixes satire, black comedy, sexual picaresque (the journalist in question is an inveterate womaniser) with something else again. The mysterious painkiller which he is given in India opens unexpected vistas in the mind of the unfortunate main character. It's an inventive, funny, sexy book which also gets serious about love, loss and fate.

FHM, 1st July 2001
'there's no better - or funnier - reintroduction to the least known truly great American author'

Customer Reviews

The door to Irving's universe
As a fan, I was really looking forward to Mr. Irving's new novel. What would it be this time, after brilliant stories like A son of the Circus or The Cider House Rules screenplay? The Fourth Hand did not disappoint me in the end, but then again...

All the Irving ingredients are there: the unique subversive mix of the absurd and the real, crazy but real-life characters, hilarious situations, sexual and moral dilemma's, social 'criticism' (mass media),...

But to me, it lacked engagement, a necessity to tell thís particular story, which made other books like "A Prayer for Owen Meany" or " A Widow for one year" so compelling. Especially the form of The Fourth Hand bothered me. It is great that Mr. Irving tried to write a shorter book, that he keeps on searching for new ways to write at this stage of his career. But to compensate that, he is too present as a writer in the book, often commenting on the story, often describing, summarizing situations that could have been great scenes.

And somewhere in the middle there is a serious dip. I almost lost interest there. Why elaborate on Dr. Zajac when he drops out in the middle of the book? At that point, the writer is so busy with all his characters, that the story lacks direction. But as soon as he focuses on Patrick and Doris again - the main characters - the love story that has always been there emerges, its simple and honest beauty leaving you breathless at the end.

The Fourth hand is 'just' a beautiful story. Nothing more, nothing less. I would recommend it to someone who has not read Irving yet. Just to show them the door to Irving's universe and, in a gentle way, making them want to see more.

Deeply satisfying as usual
The Fourth Hand is classic Irving. A mildly bizarre story line, highly humorous, and deeply insightful.

Patrick Wallingford comes alive on the page as a man like the rest of us, bemused by the things that happen to him, but somehow finding his way through complex relationships and startling life events. He is likeable but also flawed in many ways, and yet someone who evokes our sympathy.

The Fourth Hand is a funny book, so much so that from time to time and found myself laughing aloud, attracting the attention of others in the room. It is also sexy, and yet, the eroticism is combined with a human understanding of the characters so that it is never tacky.

I don't know what it is about Irving, but while his books can be read on a fairly superficial level, there is something in them which touches deep chords and says something about our own lives too. I highly recommend The Fourth Hand and am sure it won't disappoint any Irving fans out there.

Sadly, not up to his usual standard
I'm not sure what happened here but this is certainly not Irving in his usual flying form. Although the idea behind this book has all the hallmarks of John Irving - a bit wacky with potentially hilarious plot turns - it fails to deliver. I found the novel laboured, the characters unbelievable and even the names of the characters (which Irving usually does so brilliantly) somehow very fake-sounding. It certainly does have comic moments, more to do with the character of the hand surgeon than the main character of Wallingford, and specifically the dog hell-bent on eating its own excrement.

Overall though, this book is hard to finish. I found myself not exactly disliking Wallingford, just not believing in him or caring what happened. For those of you not familiar with Irving's work, earlier novels are a sure bet (Cider House Rules, Owen Meany, Garp) but more recent ones are also good (Widow for One Year, Son of the Circus).