Rating: 
Summary: Pointless, not even funny
Review: After finishing this book, I ended up thinking: so what? Irving's new book left me pretty unsatisfied. The plot is contrived and clumsy and the characters feel wooden. And to think this comes from Mr. Irving, the guy who usually makes you root for his characters. The only ones I really enjoyed were Irma and Dr. Zajac, and they virtually diappeared midthrough! Worse still, Irving overuses the technique of telling the story, instead of letting his characters speak from themselves. I can't recommend The Fourth Hand: Irving fans will find it disappointing and newcomers might as well try one of his better-known works.What a shame it wasn't better...
Rating: 
Summary: SAD & BAD
Review: Where is my favorite author? The man that penned, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, OWEN MEANY and CIDER HOUSE RULES? Books that beg to be reread and given to people that you truly love. Fourth Hand had no redeeming value, characters that didn't interest me, and a plot that just didn't happen. If you haven't read, A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY or CIDER HOUSE RULES,you should! John Irving is an artist and wonderful author, and this book must have been written under some sort of duress. Mr. Irving, I look forward to your next work of art, obviously artists have bad days too.
Rating: 
Summary: Irving does it again!
Review: In typical John Irving fashion, "The Fourth Hand" delivers quirky yet lovable characters that weave a tale rich with questionable possibilities intertwined with those things which are basic in all of us. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, often wondering where it would take me. With an ending that some might consider trite or conceptualized, it seemed the only way for it to reach its finality and have the proper closure. If you enjoyed "Hotel New Hampshire," then this will be a must read on your list.
Rating:
Summary: Blah.
Review: I have read everything he's ever written, and I think a NYTimes reviewer got it right when he said (and I paraphrase) that this is more like a book by a student of John Irving than by the man himself. No good character development, nothing all that intriguing - the best thing about his books is that all the things that happen to the characters are usually believable. Not so in this case, and you don't care about them to boot. He's written much better.
Rating:
Summary: Flashes of brilliance are smothered in crappy writing
Review: Long-time fans of John Irving have high expectations of the author. Unfortunately, many will be disappointed by The Fourth Hand. Despite a few moving passages, this book doesn't pack anything close to the punch of his better work. At first I was intrigued by the quasi-omniscient narrative style of The Fourth Hand. It's light, easy, almost conversational---a departure from the style of his previous novels. The writing is crisp and assured. I wondered how the narrative style would lend itself to the telling of the story. Then, as the plot unfolded, I realized that Irving was treading on a lot of old territory: the male protagonist who bumbles through life (as a sexual magnet, of course), the loss of something dear, entangled relationships. While these plot devices can be made fresh by a compelling story, they come out feeling flat here. The characters are poorly developed and the plot twists are very predictable. It is difficult to care about the two characters in the love story, or even to understand their attraction to each other. In all, a big disappointment, all the more so because we know Irving is capable of much better.
Rating: 
Summary: I love John Irving
Review: I'm biased, b/c I love John Irving. He has the wierdest scenarios, yet his characters exude such warmth and humanity. Not his greatest novel (for me that's Garp), but very enjoyable Irving.
Rating:
Summary: Not so much written but retold
Review: Having been an avid Irving fan for over twenty years, I had high expectations for The Fourth Hand. Irving disappoints me on just about every level. The characters are essentially one dimensional and static. One could see every plot twist long before it arrived. One reason I continued to read was that I was waiting for Irving to surprise me. He never did. The Fourth Hand borrows from just about every other book he's written with nothing new to offer. I got the sense that Irving was filling the quota of a book contract and we'll see his next effort with a new publisher. It's either that or Irving has chosen to rest on his laurels. I thought A Widow For One Year a stunning comeback from the abysmal Son Of The Circus. However, with this effort I have to begin to wonder if Irving has lost his will to write. Shallow characters, predictable plots and unresolved subplots just left me unfulfilled as a reader.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining reading!
Review: Contrary to typical long-time Irving fan opinion, based on other reviews written here, I want to announce to everyone that I absolutely adored this one! I've always loved John Irving's books, and wondered why he didn't have mainstream appeal. I think this one could change all of that! This was a very funny, touching story about a frustrated second-rate TV journalist longing to do some "meaningful" reporting. Patrick Wallingford lost his left hand to a hungry lion while on assignment, beds down most every woman he meets and falls helplessly in love with the widow of the donor of his transplanted hand. Sounds like typical Irving material, however, it is written in a style and manner not-so-typical of his previous novels; specifically, this is light and airy, easy-to-read, which is a nice break from the norm and not what I have come to expect from John Irving. I found it to be refreshingly uncomplicated and such a clever, amusing story! I applaud Mr. Irving's courage to break away from custom, as he has here, offering readers this charming pleasure. Though some fans, as evidenced by previous reviewers, may disagree and be disappointed with him; this is surely one fan who realizes what tremendous talent Mr. Irving possesses and can fully appreciate it in various forms!!! This one I will recommend to all!
Rating:
Summary: Flat Style, Dull Book
Review: John Irving has become a brand name. While the "Show-Don't Tell Rule" is hardly a "rule" that must be followed rigidly by every author, it was never more evident than in this book why this advice is so often repeated in writing lectures. Most of THE FOURTH HAND is summarized, like someone explaining what happened in the book, rather than dramatized with dialogue and action. If a new writer presented this, it would be discarded as lazy writing. John Irving, like Thomas Harris (HANNIBAL) or even Woody Allen, presents this based on the strength of his name, and people will praise it for that reason alone. I have to struggle to keep reading it, and I love many of Irving's earlier books. Then again, maybe this is "Art" and I'm just a moron.
Rating:
Summary: Something missing
Review: If there's one flaw Irving's books *usually* suffer from, it's over-writing... Sometimes the character development gets a bit overdone and the plot progress grinds to a halt. However, this go-around Irving seems to suffer from the exact opposite: his characters are under-written... I found no compelling reason to like the Mrs. Clausen character, no understanding of why Wallingford cared for her so much, no sympathy for any character other than Dr. Zajac (who wasn't in the book much, unfortunately), and no interest in the developing love story. The whole 'mysticism' (the best way I can put it) surrounding Mrs. Clausen's motivation for donating her husband's hand, Otto and Patrick's reoccurring (and intertwining)dreams (especially that of the blue pill) just seemed like sloppy writing: Irving started to develop an idea, and then it just died midway through.
Definitely disappointed with this one.
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