In the following review, Fremont-Smith describes the world of Garp as a "horrendous" but "marvelous" "invented contraption," in which Irving plays the role of master magician similar to that of the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz.

The World According to Garp is a book of dimensions. It is entertainment on a grand, anyway stylish, scale. It is bravado transfigured into bravery —or maybe the other way around. In fact, I think quite often the other way around—which is not to damn, but to wonder. . . .

Murder is a frequent occurrence in Garp (both Garp and his mother die in this fashion), but it isn't about murder really, it's about how to breathe life into life. Mayhem and mutilation are on every other page, but the theme of the book is addressed to making things whole. The Ellen Jamesians can't speak (and Garp himself smashes his jaw...