History Literature / TheWorldAccordingToGarp

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]], written by Steve Tesich and directed by George Roy Hill, was released in 1982. It stars Creator/RobinWilliams as Garp, along with Mary Beth Hurt, Creator/GlennClose, and Creator/JohnLithgow.

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]], written by Steve Tesich, directed by George Roy Hill and starring Creator/RobinWilliams, was released in 1982.

A movie adaptation directed by George Roy Hill and starring Creator/RobinWilliams was theatrically released in 1982, with the screenplay written by Steve Tesich.

!Tropes:

Creator/JohnIrving’s fourth novel, published in 1978, '''''The World According to Garp''''' was a bestseller for several years. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Awards for Fiction in 1979 and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year. Written in the style of a biography, it chronicles the quirky life and times of author, husband, and father T.S. Garp from his unusual conception to his tragic early death.

A movie adaptation directed by George Roy Hill and starring Creator/RobinWilliams was theatrically released in 1982 with the screenplay written by Steve Tesich.

* ContrivedCoincidence: When ''The World According to Garp'' was written with the protagonist's biological father a comatose but aroused injured Air Force gunner in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Irving was unaware that his own biological father had been in the military.

* KnownOnlyByInitials: Garp's first name is T.S., said by his mother to stand for "Technical Sergeant" (the rank of his father). [[LastNameBasis Everyone just calls him "Garp."]]
** In the movie, a college-aged Garp flirts with girls by telling them the initials stand for "terribly sexy."

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Both Garp and his wife.]]

* WriteWhoYouKnow: John Irving’s mother Frances Winslow had not been married at the time of the author’s conception could be the basis of T. S. Garp being an illegitimate child.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale : Jenny's conception of Garp. Most definitely not OK, as Garp's father was a bed-bound patient in the hospital where she worked. No one knows how it happened, so she never has to answer for it.
** TheFilmOfTheBook briefly addresses the issue of rape.

* ShowWithinAShow: Or, in this case, a story within a story. Some early stories of Garps are included as part of the text, to show his development as a writer.

Creator/JohnIrving’s fourth novel, published in 1978, '''''The World According to Garp''''' was a bestseller for several years. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Awards for Fiction in 1979 and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year.

* MostWritersAreWriters : Garp grows up to be a writer.

* ShowWithinAShow : Or, in this case, a story within a story. Some early stories of Garps are included as part of the text, to show his development as a writer.

* {{Transsexual}}: A former tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles, Roberta Muldoon becomes a close friend to the Garp family and a fervent supporter/bodyguard for Garp's mother Jenny.
* YourCheatingHeart : [[spoiler: Both Garp and his wife.]]

* BigFancyHouse: Garp ends up owning both Jenny Fields' impressive childhood home on Dog's Head Harbor and the Steering family home at Steering Academy.

* [[Transsexual]]: A former tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles, Roberta Muldoon becomes a close friend to the Garp family and a fervent supporter/bodyguard for Garp's mother Jenny.

* DeadGuyJunior: [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] Though Jenny Garp asks her son not to name a child after her while she's still living, the Garps name their first daughter Jenny. [[spoiler: Soon after, Baby Jenny becomes a Dead Guy Junior, as Jenny is murdered shortly after her birth]]. Later in life, Jenny Garp bears out the name by becoming a doctor, echoing her grandmother the nurse.

* CreatorBreakdown: Garp's third novel, ''The World According to Bensenhaver'' into which he projects all his grief over [[spoiler:Walt's death]].

* AuthorAvatar: Possibly Garp for Irving.

* ContrivedCoincidence: When ''The World According to Garp'' was written, with the protagonist's biological father a comatose but aroused UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Irving was unaware that his own biological father had been in the military.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale : Jenny's conception of Garp. Most definitely not OK, as Garp's father was a bed-bound patient in the hospital where she worked. No one knows how it happened, so she never has to answer for it.

* EmbarrassingNickname : Cushion and Pooh.
* InfantImmortality : An inversion.

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* ElectiveMute : Of an extreme kind: The Ellen Jamesians are a group of StrawFeminists who cut out their tongues in support of a young rape victim.

* YourCheatingHeart : [[spoiler: Garp's wife]]

''Creator/JohnIrving''’s fourth novel, published in 1978, '''''The World According to Garp''''' was a bestseller for several years. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Awards for Fiction in 1979 and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year.

A movie adaptation directed by George Roy Hill and starring ''Creator/RobinWilliams'' was theatrically released in 1982 with the screenplay written by Steve Tesich.

* InfantImmortality : An inversion. [[spoiler: Poor Walt.)

* RapeIsOKWhenItsFemaleOnMale : Jenny's conception of Garp. Most definitely not OK, as Garp's father was a bed-bound patient in the hospital where she worked. No one knows how it happened, so she never has to answer for it.

* AutoErotica : Ends in the most tragic way, including [[spoiler : GroinAttack wherein one party has his penis bitten off, and EyeScream where Garp's son loses an eye to the gearshift. Ouch.]]

* EmbarassingNickname : Cushion and Pooh.

* InfantImmortality : [[spoiler: inverted. Poor Walt.)

A movie adaptation directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robin Williams was theatrically released in 1982 with the screenplay written by Steve Tesich.

''Creator/John Irving''’s fourth novel, published in 1978, '''''The World According to Garp''''' was a bestseller for several years. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Awards for Fiction in 1979 and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year.

John Irving’s fourth novel published in 1978, '''''The World According to Garp''''' was a bestseller for several years. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Awards for Fiction in 1979 and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year.