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  • A Prayer for Owen Meany

  • By: John Irving
  • Narrated by: Joe Barrett
  • Length: 27 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,711 ratings)
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A Prayer for Owen Meany cover art

A Prayer for Owen Meany

By: John Irving
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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Summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Of all of John Irving's books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. In print, Owen Meany's dialogue is set in capital letters; for this production, Irving himself selected Joe Barrett to deliver Meany's difficult voice as intended.

In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys – best friends – are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary and terrifying. 

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of John Irving's book, you'll also get an exclusive Jim Atlas interview that begins when the audiobook ends.

©1989 Garp Enterprises Ltd (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“John Irving, who writes novels in the unglamorous but effective way Babe Ruth used to hit home runs, deserves a medal not only for writing this book but for the way he has written it. . . . A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation in the somehow exhausted world of late twentieth-century fiction—it is an amazingly brave piece of work . . . so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. . . . Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world.” (Stephen King)
"Roomy, intelligent, exhilarating, and darkly comic...Dickensian in scope....Quite stunning and very ambitious." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"This moving book comes across like a concerto in this audio version, with a soloist—Owen's voice—rising from the background of an orchestral narration. This book, one of the finest of its time, gets the narration that it deserves." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about A Prayer for Owen Meany

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An amazing and memorable book

I've read two other novels by the author and hoped that this book would be as good. I wasn’t disappointed: it’s a remarkable creation that will stick in my mind for a long time.
I didn’t want it to end. It starts as a story of small town America and then diverges in all directions as the eponymous Owen and his close friend John grow from boyhood to manhood and we get to know their families, foibles and achievements. On the back of their story, populated by many larger than life characters, the author lets his imagination rip as he contemplates questions of morality, religion, politics, loyalty, love, war and patriotism to name but a few of the myriad of topics that enrich this marvellous book that tugs at the emotions but also very funny at times. Owen Meany is an extraordinary creation. Never exceeding 5 feet tall with a voice that has hasn’t broken he dominates the book and all around him. The narrator gives him such a memorable voice:, a cross between Twittie Pie and Donald Duck, that makes him endearing but not one to be pitied: he is an heroic character.
The narrator is outstanding and brought the characters to life in this memorable book.

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64 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A moving masterpiece.

A beautifully crafted, funny, heartbreaking work of genius from a world-class writer at the top of his game, A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of those books that simply defies easy description.

It's about angels. And armadillos. THE VOICE. An armless Indian and an headless Holy Goalie. A lethal baseball, a Christmas pageant baby Jesus, and the precise connection between what the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come saw on a cardboard tombstone and the burned and blistered corpse of a helicopter pilot killed in Vietnam. Through all the quirky characters and masterful plotting, however, at its heart, A Prayer for Owen Meany is about family, friendship, community, and what it really means to be a hero.

Narrator, Joe Barret's, pitch perfect reading captured the spirit and voice of each unforgettable character, including that of Owen Meany, whose screeching, grating, damaged voice is portrayed in the novel in full caps. Somehow Barret accomplishes this feat in such a way that he fully embodies Owen's unforgettable voice, yet is still easy on the ears of audio book listeners.

This Audible version of A Prayer for Owen Meany made me laugh, made me fall in love with Owen Meany and, ultimately, broke my heart. When the book was over, I missed Owen, as if I'd known him.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunningly well written & read

Not my usual cup of tea, but 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' builds up over the length of the book into a great mix of characters and plots.



Throughout the entire storyline there are beautiful little references to seemingly innocuous past events, with the smallest details weaving such a wonderful picture, leaving the reader (listener) with a clarity of what this world looks like and what the people are like, but still allowing the imagination to form the shapes.



I wished my drive to work was longer so I could have listened to more in one go, and in fact there were occasions that I took a 'long-cut' just to hear a particular story line thread play out!



It is to a budding novelist as a Mozart concerto is to a wannabe musician who has just picked up a tambourine... You think you'd like to try your hand at writing, then you see this and realise what a really good author can produce.



I'm a great fan of the Jason Bourne series, and John Le Carre is by far my favourite author of a book series or genre, but Owen Meany is that exception to the rule. Truly mesmerising.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful wonderful

Would you listen to A Prayer for Owen Meany again? Why?

I would listen to Owen Meany again and I plan to. I read this book many years ago and was delighted to see it on Audible. To listen to it was so pleasurable and delightful.The narrator is really really good. Now I am looking for everything else he has done!

What did you like best about this story?

Owen Meany is the heart of it and the ending is just so surprising, I was on the edge of my seat and so affected for days.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It certainly made me cry.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just listen - it will captivate you

Let it just keep going, because the start is a little slow. It's long - and it will be worth every minute of your time.



Beautiful writing, and such expert narration.



Sad and sobering though some of the story is, it's not written in a way that cynically tries to milk the pathos. In fact, most of the sad incidents are dealt with in such a matter-of-fact way, it helps you to deal with it, too. It is also a very funny book, with sly, sideways humour and sometimes some pure slapstick comic passages.



I really did love this book and was very sad to leave it.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Pretentious spiritual lecture 20 hours too long.

Obviously, this is one of those books that if you don’t get it, you’re simply not intellectual enough. Well, tare up the Mensa certificate Mother, I’m getting a job in the circus! Despite its interesting premise, this is little more than a self indulgent 20 hour lecture about differing church procedurals. Don’t be fooled into thinking this will be a tale of possible divine intervention in the vein of Green Mile, or a heartwarming journey alongside a lovable simpleton like Edward scissorhands or Forrest Gump. It ends ok, if you can trudge your way through the monotonousness of it all. 2 hours of talking about the Christmas story play was enough to make me want to drink WD40. There’s no conflict at all in most chapters and if I never hear the word ‘said’ again for the rest of my life, it will be too soon. If it wasn’t for my ‘need to finish’ OCD, I’d have happily turned it off and instead listened to my wife recite everything I’ve ever done or said wrong since I took my first breath. I can’t imagine any modern reader surviving this utter tripe.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Prayer for Owen Meany

great book, lovely narration, a fantastic way to spend 26hrs.

though is just shame a about the music. particularly at the end, as it kicks in when you are lost in the story and it brings you round like a slap the face just when you want to be left with your thoughts. why is it there ? as you can tell it has left an unfortunate final impression on this version. this is as shame as otherwise I loved this book.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An Oscar for Joseph Barrett.

Joe Barrett deserves an award for his beautiful reading of this beautiful book. (that's only 13 words)

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This is what audiobooks are for!

What a treat. It's long but I would have rather it hadn't ended... An immersive experience

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

difficult to go through

There is an interesting story in this book but really really taking long time to get through. I rather preferred reading the book instead of listening then I could skip some pages more quickly. I am in the last 6 hours and feeling like I can't breathe anymore while trying to get it done. Narration is excellent, the accents are very well done, story is good but unnecessarily long.

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11 people found this helpful