Rating: 
Summary: An unpleasant surprise. A collosal disappointment
Review: I am a John Irving fan. I have read most of his previous books. I usually find his characters engaging, quirky, and complex. I am usually fascinated by the emotional twists and turns of his truly human characters and their believable, though sometimes fantastic circumstances. I was disappointed that "The Fourth Hand" did not live up to my expectations. In only a few pages after the introduction of each, I had learned everything I wanted to know about each character. I found none of them endearing, in the least. Mr. Irving's preoccupation with the sexual exploits of Patrick Wallingford seemed to overshadow any effort at character development. I hope that this disappointment is not a harbinger of the decline of a fine novelist.
Rating: 
Summary: A minor work, but still Irving
Review: I'm giving this book three stars only because it does not measure up to John Irving's other works; it doesn't have the fresh originality of GARP, the issues of OWEN MEANY, or the complexity of A WIDOW. If this were a debut novel, people would be heralding the arrival of a new talent, but, as it is, it will probably go down as one of Irving's minor works.Patrick Wallingford's hand is eaten by a lion in India, and at once he loses both his wife (through no fault of the lion's) and his relatively obscure role as a reporter on the sensationalist all-news network. As the "lion guy", with the hand eating footage played over and over, Patrick is dogged by what is missing - and it's not just his hand. When he is the recipient of one of the first hand transplants, he finally learns what he wants: the wife of the donor, who herself is more in love with the hand than with Patrick. This does not make for convincing fiction, at least not at the level Irving usually writes. Characters are drawn meticulously, then dropped as though Irving lost interest with them. For example, a full twenty-five pages are devoted to the hand surgeon, his relationship with his son, and their feces-eating dog (a characteristic that seems to be mentioned every paragraph), none of which has any bearing on the outcome of the novel. I never bought the love between Patrick and his love Mrs. Clausen (the fact Patrick thinks of her as Mrs. Clausen for the entire book tells you something), nor did I feel caught up in Patrick's life. Gimmicks abound, but don't seem to serve as much more than entertainment. Even the current events mentioned don't accomplish much more than marking time. Irving clearly loves his characters, and that shows with sometimes remarkable detail. I urge fans who are disappointed with this not to despair. Every writer deserves a few lesser efforts to round out his canon. Fans of Irving's fiction should read this, if only to get a full sense of this novelist's strengths and flaws.
Rating: 
Summary: It's hard to clap for the one-handed man...
Review: This was a disappointing Irving book, you expect so much more from his style of writing and humor. Patrick is an uninteresting character who is flat and unlikable. He is just watching the world happening to him, has little involvement with people and events, even though he is a "news" reporter. He knows he should be doing better, with his life and job, but just doesn't do it. A pity me attitude and world recognition gets him through life. Toward the end he develops a slight back-bone but this is too late to make amends for a fairly boring story. I think this had to due to the fact that we don't follow him through most of his life like Garp or the Hotel NH family, he pre-exists and we don't see his defining moments, so he lacks interest. This book is missing the usual bizarre and lovable characters Irving usually brings (expection: the doctor) and I can't say that it was all that funny, except the concept of visitation rights (or lefts haha) to the hand, and the doctor's life. He should have been the focus of the book.
Rating:
Summary: a very bad book by a very good writer
Review: The worst thing I can say about this book is that, all the time I was reading it, I was thinking: Stephen King would have done it better! I didn't know it was possible for John Irving to write a really bad novel, but in The Fourth Hand he's managed the feat. I read it in about 36 hours, starting one afternoon after work and finishing the next. So it's a page-turner. No problem there: he's still a very handy writer. But I didn't particularly like the "hero," and I especially disliked the wife of the beer-truck driver who arranges for him to get her dead husband's hand, who claims visiting rights with the hand, and whom he finally marries. God, I'm thinking, don't marry that woman! Don't move to Green Bay! Are you crazy? Yes, he was crazy to marry her, and I was crazy to spend my hours reading this book. I have to say my wife and daughter had the same reaction--despised the book, but read it nonstop. I was embarrassed to put it on my shelf and equally embarrassed to give it to a friend, so I handed it off to the university library. They have trouble keeping John Irving books on the shelf--students steal them. That will become less of a problem in the future if he doesn't revert to his former genius. Meanwhile, avoid this book. Go back and read Setting Free the Bears, or any of his later and more famous books. -- Dan Ford
Rating: 
Summary: There is no Under Toad in this lake
Review: But there IS Lambeau Field! Out here in the "Great American Fly-over Zone," we know Packer Backers with cabins at the lake and a separate refridgerator outside just for the beer. There is not the riot of characters and multiple story lines that populate some of John Irving's other work, but Zujac & Hildred & son & Irma & the dog are a hoot! 4th Hand is more outline than other intricately interwoven/intersecting sprawling Irving. I agree with other reviewers here that this one was probably written with an eye towards a movie (an amalgam of Network /Any Given Sunday/ On Golden Pond ?) on which he would not need to take as broadly swathing a scalpel as was done with Garp and Cider House Rules. Even a pared down Irving outshines many writers at top form!
Rating:
Summary: Two-handed applause for Irving...
Review: Once again, John Irving has stepped outside of stereotypical fiction that critics tend to pigeonhole him with and created a unique novel that is sure to please. *The Fourth Hand* alternately made me laugh, made me cry and made me appreciate the relationships that superficially don't seem to matter at all. Patrick Wallingford is an adventurous reporter for an international network hungry for random acts of violence and odd human stories. On one fateful trip, Wallingford loses his hand to a lion when keeping his microphone too close to the lion's cage. At that moment, Wallingford becomes just as famous for his reporting as for the incident. Eventually, Wallingford is asked to become a hand transplant recipient by Doris Clausen, whose husband is still alive with both hands fully functional. Although the proposed hand donor doesn't seem practical, events will lead to Wallingford gaining Clausen's hand and a relationship with Mrs. Clausen. The novel, at times hilarious, at times sadly sentimental, reminded me that even the most eccentric of individuals needs to make connections with others. And if Wallingford can make that connection with Doris, anything is possible.
Rating:
Summary: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Review: I went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor last week, and left saying, "second-rate Shakespeare-" I felt the same way about The Fourth Hand. Your time is much better spent re-reading one of Irving's better novels. Wallingford just is not a compelling main character. In fact, the only one that interested me at all was Zajac, but after one super chapter you practically never hear from him again. I suppose that after he found happiness and fulfillment with Irma, his life became so boring and uneventful that there was no more to tell. Definitely second-rate.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to his previous works
Review: John Irving has succumbed to producing "pulp fiction!" I previously considered him worthy to recommend to friends. This novel is not worth it.
Rating:
Summary: A touching story (no pun intended)
Review: Oh Noooo! John Irving wrote a book that is different from his others! Oh woe is me!! It's not a carbon copy of his other books! Give me a break! My biggest beef with this book was its length. Not nearly long enough. Aside from that it was a great story. If it was an 'Irvingesque' novel, perhaps he would have gone on in greater length about what slimebags the media are and all that. But he chose a different tack. Still, the novel has its typical Irving moments when we are required to suspend our disbelief, as in the secret life of the hand or when he pulls in a few elements from previous books, in this case the Indian circus theme. (In past books we saw this in the form of wrestling, New Hampshire, and Vienna) The story is about a man who's glamorous life is suddenly marked by a series of losses and gains, most notably that of his left hand. But it is also the story of a man who has found what he wants and is willing to do what it takes to get it. The epigram (?) that opens the book, a quote from E.B. White's 'Stuart Little' says it all ' 'a person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast.' Here we have a man who, despite being internationally known, and desired by women, finds that he really just wants an ordinary life. I think that the realism in this story comes from the fact that Patrick Wallingford doesn't just fall right into this realization of where he wants to be. He goes through a series of short, shallow relationships along the way ' perhaps looking for Mrs. Clausen in the guise of another. He slowly comes to the realization that what she has to offer will not be found elsewhere. I found Wallingford's love for this average woman as well as her acceptance of him to be very touching and believable. The side-story in this novel is that of Dr. Nicholas Zajac, the surgeon who grafts the 'new' hand on Patrick. Zajac is a bland, timid man who also is seeking a different life than what he has. Zajac's life is juxtaposed with Wallingford's as he comes out of his shell ' with the help of his son as well as a new love to become rather outgoing and carefree, while at the same time Wallingford finds he is seeking a life that is more mundane, similarly, with the help of a son and the love of Mrs. Clausen. In both cases, the men go from painful, even zombie-like existences to lives that are rich and fulfilling. So if you are looking for something along the line of Irving's last 5 or 6 books, you may be disappointed. But if you are a fan of his earlier works ' 'The 158 pound Marriage' or 'The Water-Method Man', I think you will enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: FIVE STARS FOR THE FOURTH HAND
Review: As an author with my debut novel in its initial release, I find myself amazed every time John Irving writes a new book. With THE FOURTH HAND, he has done it again--amazed me once more with his fresh-voiced creativity. The novel takes on advances in medical technology and mixes that topic with an odd assortment of characters. A television reporter loses a hand on camera to a circus lion. A widow volunteers her late husband's hand for transplant, provided she is given visitation rights. Those previous two sentences capture the tone of this fabulous book. Read it soon.
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