Until I Find You

A Novel

By: John Irving

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Until I Find You is the story of the actor Jack Burns–his life, loves, celebrity, and astonishing search for the truth about his parents.

When he is four years old, Jack travels with his mother Alice, a tattoo artist, to several North Sea ports in search of his father, William Burns. From Copenhagen to Amsterdam, William, a brilliant church organist and profligate womanizer, is always a step ahead–has always just departed in a wave of scandal, with a new tattoo somewhere on his body from a local master or “scratcher.”

Alice and Jack abandon their quest, and Jack is educated at schools in Canada and New England–including, tellingly, a girls’ school in Toronto. His real education consists of his relationships with older women–from Emma Oastler, who initiates him into erotic life, to the girls of St. Hilda’s, with whom he first appears on stage, to the abusive Mrs. Machado, whom he first meets when sent to learn wrestling at a local gym.

Too much happens in this expansive, eventful novel to possibly summarize it all. Emma and Jack move to Los Angeles, where Emma becomes a successful novelist and Jack a promising actor. A host of eccentric minor characters memorably come and go, including Jack’s hilariously confused teacher the Wurtz; Michelle Maher, the girlfriend he will never forget; and a precocious child Jack finds in the back of an Audi in a restaurant parking lot. We learn about tattoo addiction and movie cross-dressing, “sleeping in the needles” and the cure for cauliflower ears. And John Irving renders his protagonist’s unusual rise through Hollywood with the same vivid detail and range of emotions he gives to the organ music Jack hears as a child in European churches. This is an absorbing and moving book about obsession and loss, truth and storytelling, the signs we carry on us and inside us, the traces we can’t get rid of.

Jack has always lived in the shadow of his absent father. But as he grows older–and when his mother dies–he starts to doubt the portrait of his father’s character she painted for him when he was a child. This is the cue for a second journey around Europe in search of his father, from Edinburgh to Switzerland, towards a conclusion of great emotional force.

A melancholy tale of deception, Until I Find You is also a swaggering comic novel, a giant tapestry of life’s hopes. It is a masterpiece to compare with John Irving’s great novels, and restates the author’s claim to be considered the most glorious, comic, moving novelist at work today.

©2005 John Irving (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“As ever, Irving is at his best with the family relationships he creates. They are simultaneously touching and infuriating. It is with these relationships that Irving firmly grasps universal truths and puts a chokehold on his readers…. Irving’s descriptions are distressing to read, but they force the reader to relate to the characters in a way they would not in most works of fiction.”–Calgary Herald

“Bittersweet . . . moving.”–People

“Until I Find You . . . cuts closer to the bone than any of [Irving’s] previous works.”–Ottawa Citizen

Stunning, first rate, story telling.

Really not sure what all the negative reviews are about. People keep bringing up the abuse situations as if they are constant and there’s nothing else to this book. Nonsense, the scenes are important to the character development and not over done. They are certainly realistic if you understand the character. This is my 2nd favorite John Irving book behind A Widow for one year. My first exposure to his work was Cider House Rules, which was great. Irving is by far and away my favorite fiction novelist. My advice to first time Irving readers is to read a synopsis of whatever book they’re interested in and see if the subject matter sounds appealing to them, before buying. Don’t just pick up Garp or Prayer for Owen Meany because everyone else says it’s great. You may in fact prefer his lesser known stuff, that was the case with me.

Interesting but Disappointing

I'm a real John Irving fan, and my absoute favorite book is A Widow for One Year. I had high hopes for this book, and was eager to get started on it. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment, especially when compared to A Widow for One Year. The opening chapters are too long, and I got bored with the descriptions of the main character's travels. The story becomes interesting - and very disturbing - when the young boy experiences sexual abuse at the hands of adult women. But as the story progesses this becomes utterly absurd and unbelievable. At some point I realized I no longer felt sympathy for the young boy who seems as perverted and freakish as the women he is abused by. I also found the ending unconvincing. If you haven't read A Widow for One Year, download that one instead of this one!

Total immersion.

Awesomely long. I am a long time Irving fan with Owen Meany being my favorite. This was a bit different in setting to some of his novels but the mix of humor, total believability of his characters and absolute outrageousness remains. I enjoyed it to the end. Perhaps not the best choice for a first time Irving listener.

Great story, annoyingly read

If you like John Irving, you'll enjoy this book. It is a very complex and long story (32 hours!) with lots of interesting characters and unexpected turns. The plot was captivating albeit a little disturbing at times (the child abuse story line is not for the faint of heart). The only thing I really didn't like was the narrator: his multiple accents were at the best annoying, in some places downright ridiculous or wrong - his German pronounciation was actually painful for a first-language German like me. He should have asked somebody to guide him who knows the language.

Not my favourite John Irving novel

A long meandering tale that comes together beautifully, it just takes a long time to get there. Unlike most of John Irving's works there are many unrefined characters in this novel. I liked it, but there are other works if his that I've enjoyed so much more, it was still worth the time though.

Needs Editing!

I love John Irving‘s books because they are so weird and about things no one else would ever think of. However “Until I Find You” is so long it is exhausting. Arthur Morey’s narration was outstanding but it was still too, too long and detailed.

Sooooo close to a 5

Rich, accurate character development in a great story. Loved the ending. A little more tragedy would have made this a 5.

John Irving lover, but this is not the best one

It's a tremendously long build up and the closing is not quiet with it (though I will never forget Emma)

Perfect John Irving

The story telling is elaborate, sophisticated and compelling. I enjoy following the story down it’s own path.

Hang In There

The first half of the book refers to Jacks penis so often I almost returned the book. Like a 10 year old using his first swear word. Too too much. The many characters kept me going. Story was a good easy read and well developed. I love this narrator.