While reporting a story from India, New York journalist Patrick Wallingford inadvertently becomes his own headline when his left hand is eaten by a lion. In Boston, a renowned surgeon eagerly awaits the opportunity to perform the nation's first hand transplant. But what if the donor's widow demands visitation rights with the hand? In answering this unexpected question, John Irving has written a novel that is by turns brilliantly comic and emotionally moving, offering a penetrating look at the power of second chances and the will to change.

While reporting a story from India, New York journalist Patrick Wallingford inadvertently becomes his own headline when his left hand is eaten by a lion. In Boston, a renowned surgeon eagerly awaits the opportunity to perform the nation"s first hand transplant. But what if the donor"s widow demands visitation rights with the hand? In answering this unexpected question, John Irving has written a novel that is by turns brilliantly comic and emotionally moving, offering a penetrating look at the power of second chances and the will to change.

1. The Lion Guy 

2. The Former Midfielder 

3. Before Meeting Mrs.Clausen 

4. A Japanese Interlude 

5. An Accident on Super Bowl Sunday  

6. The Strings Attached 

7. The Twinge 

8. Rejection and Success  

9. Wallingford Meets a Fellow Traveler  

10. Tryingto Get Fired 

11. Up North 

12. Lambeau Field