This story comes from The World According to Garp, a novel that established John Irving as one of the greatest writers of our time. "The Pension Grillparzer" is quintessential Irving - a self-contained story-within-a-story that, like the novel as a whole, tells a vivid and engaging tale. The Grillparzer Hotel, inhabited by odd circus performers including a bear and a frighteningly accurate teller of dreams, wants a better rating to attract more tourists, so it must undergo the scrutiny of the Austrian Tourist Bureau.
Listen to a conversation with John Irving.