Truly remarkable . . . encompasses the longings and agonies of youth . . . a complex and moving novel.--TimeAstonishing . . . a writer of uncommon imaginative power. Whatever John Irving] writes, it will be worth reading.--Saturday ReviewIt 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. Imagine a mixture of Till Eulenspiegel and Ken Kesey . . . and youve got the range of the merry pranksters who hot rod through Mr. Irvings book . . . tossing flowers, stealing salt shakers, and planning the biggest caper of their young lives.--The New York TimesAbout the Author:John Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times--winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp. In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules--a film with seven Academy Award nominations.