It all started when he went to India for a photo shoot with his friend, the late photographer Mary Ellen Mark, and her filmmaker husband, Martin Bell. Irving says Avenue of Mysteries took longer than usual to become a book. Because I wouldn't know how I'm supposed to sound at the beginning unless I knew how I was going to sound when I got there.' I'm writing toward a sentence, usually to much more than a sentence, to many paragraphs, close to a last chapter - it's like a piece of music that you're writing toward: This is how it sounds when I get to the end. Because I wouldn't know how I'm supposed to sound at the beginning unless I knew how I was going to sound when I got there. His L-shaped desk wraps around two walls, and he keeps his reading and research material in neat stacks on top of it along with the notepads he uses to write his books by hand. Irving's office, which is in the same building as the condo he shares with his wife, is a beautiful open space overlooking a park. 'I like being able to walk everywhere, or take the subway. In the elevator as we head back up to his office, Irving says he'd be happy if he never had to drive a car again. A former wrestler, he's still in good shape at the age of 73 and walks at a brisk pace from one neighborhood store to the next in his new hometown of Toronto. Toward the end of his workday, he grabs a sturdy metal cart and heads out to shop. Though Irving has a big imagination, he stays grounded in daily routines. Circuses, orphans and transgender characters often appear in his work, which has a way of mixing the real with the surreal in unexpected ways. Irving has written 14 novels, including A Prayer for Owen Meany, The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules.

And there is much that is both miraculous and mysterious in his new book, Avenue of Mysteries.

Writer John Irving doesn't believe in miracles - but he is fascinated by them. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Avenue of Mysteries Author John Irving

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