A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

This book is so Irving: a little boy is obsessed with his friend's mother; strange characters and events are presented as normalities; the story is enveloping; the characters are both lovable and hateable.
On the first page, the narrator claims that Owen Meany made him believe in God. I instantly had huge expectations of walking away from this book a pious woman. No such luck, but damn, this is a good book.
John Wheelwright and Owen Meany grew up together. From the time that John held Owen up over his head in Sunday School (for Owen is a tiny person with an indescribable voice) until Owen starts John's Masters Thesis for him, they are each other's best friends. Owen affects John's life in so many ways, from the death of John's mother to keeping him out of the Vietnam war. But when Owen plays the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and sees his own name and date of death on the gravestone on stage, their relationship changes. Owen becomes obsessed with ensuring that the prophecy comes true. You have to wait until page 575 to find out if it does!
The story jumps from John and Owen's adventures together to John's "present" life in Toronto in 1987. The "present" story is not as intriguing to me, but you can definitely see the cyclical nature of politics through John's musings on 1960-90s America. Regardless, this book was a joy to read, a great story, and a thought-provoking story, just like all of John Irving's books.