Setting Free the Bears -- John Irving

<b>"Truly remarkable . . . encompasses the longings and agonies of youth . . . a complex and moving novel."--</b><i><b>Time</b><br></i><br><b>"Astonishing . . . a writer of uncommon imaginative power. Whatever John Irving] writes, it will be worth reading."--<i>Saturday Review<br></i></b><br>It is 1967. Two Viennese university students, Siggy and Hannes, roam the Austrian countryside on their motorcycles--on a quest: to liberate the bears of the Vienna Zoo. But their good intentions have both comic and gruesome consequences in this first novel from John Irving, already a master storyteller at twenty-five years old. <p/><b>"Imagine a mixture of Till Eulenspiegel and Ken Kesey . . . and you've got the range of the merry pranksters who hot rod through Mr. Irving's book . . . tossing flowers, stealing salt shakers, and planning the biggest caper of their young lives."--</b><i><b>The New York Times</b></i><br><br><b>Author:</b> John Irving<br><b>Publisher:</b> Random House Publishing Group<br><b>Published:</b> 06/23/1997<br><b>Pages:</b> 304<br><b>Binding Type:</b> Paperback<br><b>Weight:</b> 0.55lbs<br><b>Size:</b> 8.26h x 5.54w x 0.78d<br><b>ISBN:</b> 9780345417985<br><p><b>About the Author</b><br><b>John Irving</b> has been nominated for a National Book Award three times--winning once, in 1980, for the novel <i>The World According to Garp</i>. In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best