{"product_id":"imaginary-girlfriend-book-john-irving-9780552996808","title":"The Imaginary Girlfriend","description":"From a novelist known for the complexity of his novels - they are also long - comes an autobiography of compelling simplicity; it is also short. Dedicated to the memory of two wrestling coaches and two writer friends, The Imaginary Girlfriend is a lucid portrait of the writers and wrestlers who played a mentor role in John Irving's development as a novelist, a wrestler and a wrestling coach. Moreover, this candid memoir portrays a father's dedication to his children: Irving coached his sons Colin and Brendan to New England championship titles - a championship that, as a competitor, he himself was denied.  John Irving began writing and wrestling when he was fourteen. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, he was certified as a referee for twenty-four and he coached the sport until he was forty-seven. His thirty-three years in wrestling are three times those he spent as a student and a teacher of Creative Writing; yet his concise autobiography details the interrelationship of the disciplines of writing and wrestling - from the days when Irving was a beginner at both pursuits until his fourth wrestling-related surgery at the age of fifty-three.  The Imaginary Girlfriend is both a work of the utmost literary accomplishment and a paradigm for living.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49512104886545,"sku":"GOR001335961","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50356443087121,"sku":"CIN0552996807A","price":5.21,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50356447346961,"sku":"CIN0552996807G","price":3.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50697153118481,"sku":"NGR9780552996808","price":18.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53380771741969,"sku":"GOR001472833","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0552996807.jpg?v=1751392441","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/imaginary-girlfriend-book-john-irving-9780552996808","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}