You are a human animal. You are a very special breed, or you are the only animal, who can think, who can reason, who can read.

Good afternoon. This is Bookworm, and this is Mike Silverblatt.

Today we have only one guest in the studio, but there's a lot to talk to him about. It's John

Irving, his new book, A Prayer for Owen Meaney, has just been published by Morrow. It's in the

bookstores now, and it's very pleasant to

have you here. I don't think you need any introduction. Everyone, I mentioned that I was

interviewing John Irving, including my mother, became, you know, ecstatic. How are you going

to do it? What are you going to say? I said, well, I'm not going to take any notes. I'm just going to see what happens in front of me during the session and leave it there.

A prayer for Owen Meaney is a novel of belief, and in that way, it's a fairly new form for you.

What made you decide to do a novel investigating religious belief?

Well, I think, like a lot of people, I've been rather sickened by the bad name that religion

has been given by some of its more political proselytizers.

The behavior of the Ayatollah speaks for itself. The behavior of Jerry Falwell, the righteous indignation on the side of censorship favored by Cardinal O'Connor.

The whole political right-wing agenda of a sort of religious mob

really has, in the last 10 years or so,

provoked me to remember my fonder feelings for religion,

my admiration for people who had a strong personal faith,

not necessarily a faith that they felt the need to proselytize to others.

And I think it's rather a common desire on the part of me as a novelist to create saints.

Garp's mother in the world, according to Garp, had a certain saintly quality.

Dr. Larch in the Cider House rules is given a certain otherworldly usefulness.

And in this case, I wanted to create a character whose sense of purpose, of divine mission, was so strong, as is his sense of faith in himself that by his actions

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