Rating: 
Summary: This book says a lot!
Review: I always love works by John Irving, though I haven't read him in several years. "The Fourth Hand" reminded me of why I like him: quirky characters, improbable situations, unique love stories. This book has it all, and compacted in a much shorter story than his usual work. Patrick was believable as a journalist who eventually develops a conscience (I have met a few of those), and Mrs. Clausen was a sympathetic character without being overwrought. This book has a lot to say about both medical and journalistic ethics, and he works in real life situations nicely. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Unusually captivating
Review: I discovered this novel at the bookstore. I read the back and was attracted to the unusual plot. Skeptically I began reading the first chapter and 50 pages later I was hooked. The characters are real and engaging... and the story was unique and entertaining. Not only would I read this book again... I'm going to buy a copy for each of my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe, maybe not...
Review: I dunno. This John Irving novel just doesn't live up to his previous ones. There are the usual LOL moments, the usual quirky characters, the usual brilliant schticks, but the character development strikes me as weak and hurried - or rather, almost nonexistent. Except for the women, and they steal the show. I know, I know: it's satire, but I'm sure someone of Irving's prodigious gifts and talents can do better with delving into the depths of the human condition. I mean, come on: he's already done it a thousand times over in his previous books.
On the plus side: there're the typical romps through the complicated, twisted, quirky, and inter-twined Irvingesque explorations of all the various relationships involved. TV journalist Wallingford loses his hand to a lion, live on TV, and some fan wills his hand to Wallingford...just in case - and all too soon, he conveniently dies, Wallingford gets the hand, and the widow of the donor wants visitation rights. Um...yeah, right.
Read it and decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: I enjoyed reading another Iriving novel, but while I'm an Irving fan, I've noticed something I don't like about his books. He never describes the character's emotions or feelings or body language or facial expressions. It almost makes the people seem two-dimensional. But besides that, this is still a good book. The story is kind of unusual, as are most Irving novels, but if you've enjoyed his other books, you should like this one too.
Rating:
Summary: An Immature Journalist "Grows Up" and Becomes Responsible
Review: I enjoyed this book enough to read it in a single day, but I don't find myself thinking much about it since I finished it.It is the story of an immature journalist who grows up and transforms toward the end of the book. The book focuses heavily, but realistically, on the main character's sex life. He actually highly reminded me of someone I used to know, years ago, in his experiences. He could have been that person talking, in his experiences with women. I would not recommend this book to anyone who might be offended by reading continuously about the main character's sex life. Nevertheless, this is not really what the book is ABOUT. It's about the growth and transformation of the main character. I did find the main character interesting, and the minor characters were also quite interesting. I enjoyed the book, but it's probably not one I would recommend to my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Novel or porn skript?
Review: I find myself sorely disappointed by this, John Irving's, last effort. The book reads like a skript of something Larry Flynt may have been interested in and meanders in such a way as to remind one of an adolecent boy's daydreams. Basically, the plot disappears behind a not so interesting character hopping in and out of bed with different women. My advise is to get the Playboy channel instead. I want my money and my time back please! Note that "The Hotel New Hampshire" is one of my all time favorite books.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I had heard such good things about John Irving that I bought this book in spite of the odd description on the back. Bad move. "The Fourth Hand" combines an unlikely storyline with characters you couldn't care less about to deliver a truly forgetable book. While at times it had interesting things to say about broadcast journalism, the main characters were bizarre, self-centered, and one-dimensional. At the end of the book, I still didn't care what happened to any of them. A couple of supporting characters (Vlad and Angie) showed promise, but were tossed aside once they served their purpose with regard to the protagonist. With nothing to relate to and no characters to care about, I found this book truly disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: No masterpiece, but I enjoyed it very much.
Review: I liked this one. It's shorter than John Irving's recent books, which I found quite nice. It's very well organized, an element I particularly enjoyed, and it's engaging. It's not deep and it's not terribly meaningful, but if you're a John Irving fan and don't feel like reading a 600-page book, definitely read this. It's all John Irving but without the disposable 400 pages. Go for it!
Rating:
Summary: Something differerent
Review: I live John Irving's books because they are different. He comes up with interesting characters and situations. The Fourth Hand was like nothing I have ever read. The only thing I did not like about this book was I feel it could have done without that whole chapter on Dr. Zajac. It was boring. I did not need to know about Dr. Z's failed marriage, that he was too skinny, that he had an obsession with dog poo. That whole chapter, to me, had nothing to do with the rest of the story.
Other than that, great book.
Rating:
Summary: fourth hand can't hold attention
Review: I love John Irving books, really I do. He's one of my favorite authors. But this was just a really awful novel. The story has no likeable characters, the main character is boring and seems to learn nothing from his experiences, the women in the book want nothing more than the protagonist's "seed" so that they can impregnante themselves. No one seems believable, or sympathetic, or the least bit interesting. If this book were a party, you would be looking at your watch until you could leave. There were times when Irving himself seemed bored with his story -- rather than SHOW anything, he would just TELL huge chunks of the story, as if he wanted to skip ahead. I hope whatever caused Irving to write this book will go infect someone else instead -- I miss the great author he used to be.
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