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Jul 18, 2016lukasevansherman rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Irving's 10th novel (and one his shorter ones) is what he calls his "post-screenplay novel." He adapted "The Cider House Rules" for the screen, which won him an Oscar. I found it a vastly overrated film, but I'm glad he won the award. Irving is a realist, but he's never shied away from coincidences, improbabilities, and the slightly bizarre. The main event of "The Fourth Hand" is the protagonist, a news anchor, losing his hand in a freak lion attack in India. He then gets a hand transplant from a Wisconsin man who accidentally shot himself. The man's widow demands visitation rights with the hand. There's also the ultra healthy and competent, if eccentric, hand doctor. Out of this somewhat improbable material, Irving writes a novel that is funny, touching, and deeply empathetic. It's a smaller, more modest work than many of his other novels, but with no less depth and insight.