"Irving's old magic emerges: his wit and fearlessness around sex, and his grasp of the wide ripple effects of intolerance. "There's more than one way to love people, Kid," young Adam is told early on. If Irving keeps hammering that point, over and over again, it's because he's collected years of evidence that some people never hear it."
- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Irving is at home in the supernatural; he traverses the membrane between this world and the next with comfort and ease. A ghost story needn't be a horror story. It can also be a romantic comedy that includes some characters more scared by living ghouls than ectoplasm. "The Last Chairlift" is eminently readable, stocked with characters and relationships easy to invest in, even when things get a little queasy making. Irving has been cranking out novels for 54 years, establishing a consistent generosity of spirit that continues through his most recent book."–
Boston Globe "Powerfully cinematic...Irving's portrayal of a shooting in a crowded venue, for instance, is rendered with such visual acuity and kinetic energy that I'd swear I saw it rather than read it....Whenever "The Last Chairlift" is actively expanding the boundaries of what a family can be – the story feels vital and exciting."–
WASHINGTON POST "Here the consistent pleasure is an extended family whose distinctive voices deliver thoughtful messages of tolerance, understanding, and affection for those who are different."–
KIRKUS REVIEWS "Irving's majestic latest, his first since Avenue of Mysteries (2015), is a multigenerational portrait as colorful and varied as it is complex and quirky as it echoes and pays homage to the author's own rich literary history. ... Irving infuses the narrative with countless comedic set pieces, some farcical, others wistfully tender. The emotionally resonant result is sweepingly cinematic, reminding the reader that Irving has a screenwriting Oscar. Autobiographical snippets and splashes of brilliance buttress the themes of death and aging, memory and identity, in an elegiac testimony to the many facets of familial love...a big, immersive novel."–
Booklist "His enormous imagination, his storytelling gifts, and his intelligence are all on display."–
Publishers Weekly "Irving fills the pages with history, insight, opinion, and themes of family love and tolerance.... fans of the author's trademark homespun prose and delicate way with words will find much to savor here."–
BAY AREA REPORTER "It's long. But don't let that dissuade you. Let it excite you that there's that much new John Irving material to read. I mean, John Irving! "The World According to Garp!" "A Prayer for Owen Meany!" "The Cider House Rules!" "A Widow For One Year!" His first novel in seven years takes place in Aspen, Colorado, in 1941. It follows Little Ray, a former national skier, who moves back east to have her son. Years later, her grown son returns to the Hotel Jerome in Aspen where he encounters some ghosts. Read on. You won't be able to stop."–
Good Morning America "A story that's packed with emotion, insight and compassion for our flawed humanity....With Irving celebrating his 80th birthday earlier this year, his publisher has announced that The Last Chairlift will be his last big novel. For all the enjoyment more modest works may bring, this one is a fitting valediction to his distinguished literary career."–
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