Random House, 1974-08-11. First Edition. hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8x5x1. Hardcover. Stated first edition with full number line. Light rubbing to boards and dust jacket. Binding square and tight. No highlighting, notation, or remainder marks. Photos upon request. Thank you for supporting Last Word Books and independent bookstores.

Synopsis

The 158-Pound Marriage, author John Irving's third published novel, revolves around an unidentified narrator, a college professor, and a mediocre novelist. The narrator met his wife Utch, an orphaned survivor of WWII, in Vienna while doing research. They are a relatively happy couple; their family rounded out by two children. At a faculty party, they meet Severin Winter, a Viennese-born professor and coach of the college wrestling team, and his wife, Edith. The couple's interests (Edith is an aspiring fiction writer, and Severin has a commonality with Utch's upbringing in Austria) and resulting infatuations between the couples lead to after-dinner partner-swapping. At first, the swinging goes smoothly, but eventually, uneven feelings and obsessions throw the couples off track. The title, The 158-Pound Marriage , refers to the 158-pound weight class in wrestling, which Severin, the coach, feels is the most competitive. The book is small, only 176 pages, compared to Irving's later weighty tomes, like the 610 page The World According to Garp ( 1978) and The Cider House Rules (1985), which is 973 pages.

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

Details

Bookseller: Last Word Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 210439941
Title: The 158-Pound Marriage
Author: Irving, John
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition: Very Good
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: First Edition
ISBN 10: 0394484142
ISBN 13: 9780394484143
Publisher: Random House
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 1974-08-11
Size: 8x5x1
Keywords: fiction, first edition
X weight: 16 oz

Terms of Sale

Last Word Books

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

Last Word Books

This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Biblio member since 2010

Olympia, Washington

Ask Seller a Question

About Last Word Books

Books are a gateway drug. It starts out innocently enough, reading C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, pretty soon you are reading harder stuff like Kerouac and Burroughs, the next thing you know you're strung out on Bukowski and DeSade, worrying about the Patriot Act and Free Speech, and joining the ACLU. If books are your drug of choice, Last Word has your fix!

Glossary
Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Remainder: Book(s) which are sold at a very deep discount to alleviate publisher overstock. Often, though not always, they have a remainder...
Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
Rubbing: Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
Number Line: A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Jacket: Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...