The World According to Garp, written by John Irving, is a sublime comedy.  This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields--a feminist leader ahead of her times.  This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes--even of sexual assassinations. 

It is a novel rich with "lunacy and sorrow"; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust.  In more than thirty languages, in more than forty countries-- with more than ten million copies in print--this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases." 

Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years.  It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1979 and its first paperback edition won the Award the following year.  Paperback and always good to have on hand at the beach house as ranked # 24 of the 100 best beach books ever.