Setting Free the Bears - John Irving

Despite the insipid title, the novel leaps off quickly into a highly readable adventure that brings together motorcycles, carnivores, Nazis, terrorists, and bees. The obvious metaphor looms all along but enough sharp turns and sudden doozies keep it from swallowing the story. A crash of sorts brings things to a halt, whereupon the focus turns to picking up the pieces, convalescing, and tying up loose ends. This book, written with quick language and sectioned into manageable, brief segments, never demands too much from the reader but provides enough sustenance to make it worthwhile. Readers of A Prayer for Owen Meany will notice a few glimpses of common themes, such as elaborate pranks and contemptuous obsession with the news and severed digits.

WORTH THE READ
Rating: 3 out of 5
Buy this book: Setting Free the Bears