John Irving was born in Exeter, Massachusetts, the son of F. N. and Frances Winslow Irving. His father was a teacher of Russian history at Exeter Academy, the prep school which Irving attended during his adolescence. There he acquired his lifelong interests in wrestling and writing. Irving knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. Although he was not a distinguished student, averaging grades of B and C, he credits the vigorous apprenticeship of Exeter composition classes with teaching him how to write. In 1961 he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he began to realize that he lacked the ability of a truly first-class wrestler. As a result, he decided to devote himself full-time to writing, though he has continued to wrestle as a hobby ever since.

After leaving Pittsburgh in 1962, he enrolled at the University of New Hampshire and there met Thomas...