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" &amp;quot;Reading The World According to Garp by John Irving cemented my resolve to be a writer, and I&amp;#039;ve never looked back since. Garp is a big, full-bodied novel that packs it all in: love, sex, death, desire, violence, jealousy...you name it. Irving managed to pack an entire world into 437 pages! Furthermore, it&amp;#039;s about a writer. I wanted to be Garp. I don&amp;#039;t see any similarities between my writing and Irving&amp;#039;s, but I admire the fact that things happen in his books, and I try to honor that in mine. In other words, there aren&amp;#039;t a lot of people standing around kitchen tables whining about their lives. Like Dickens, Irving doesn&amp;#039;t take a small view of the world or a slice of life. If you&amp;#039;ve read the novel, it&amp;#039;s likely that you&amp;#039;ll never forget the horrific oral sex scene. Let&amp;#039;s just say it&amp;#039;ll give you pause before you unzip your pants in a car.&amp;quot; John McNally&amp;#039;s latest novel, After the Workshop, is out now.    Photo: Courtesy of Counter Point Press and Wake Forest University "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/news/a3785/john-mcnally-on-irvings-influence-4651/>