A compelling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, "In One Person" is a story of unfulfilled love - tormented, funny, and affecting - and an impassioned embrace of our sexual differences. Billy, the bisexual narrator and main character of "In One Person", tells the tragicomic story (lasting more than half a century) of his life as a "sexual suspect", a phrase first used by John Irving in 1978 - in his landmark novel of "terminal cases", "The World According to Garp". His most political novel since "The Cider House Rules" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany", John Irving's "In One Person" is a poignant tribute to Billy's friends and lovers - a theatrical cast of characters who defy category and convention. Not least, "In One Person" is an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the solitariness of a bisexual man who is dedicated to making himself "worthwhile".
A must read! John Irving has really written a great story. Many reviews I looked at were critical of the story, the characters (too many gay, cross dressing, odd people living in a small town of 7,000, but I felt they all had a part to play in what Billy was trying to tell in the story of his life. I had a much easier time with this book than I did with Irving's last (Last Night on Twisted River). My favourite line? "My dear boy, please don't put a label on me - don't make me a category before you get to know me!" For me that not only describes most of the characters but the whole book.
