The opening sentence of John Irving’s breakout novel, The World According to Garp, signals the start of sexual violence, which becomes increasingly political. «Garp’s mother, Jenny Fields, was arrested in Boston in 1942 for wounding a man in a movie theater.»



Jenny is an unmarried nurse; she becomes a single mom and a feminist leader, beloved but polarizing. Her son, Garp, is less beloved, but no less polarizing.