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In March, I presented the first 13 of the 25 questions John Irving answered exclusively for this newsletter. Following please find the twelve remaining questions.

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1. What would it mean to you to win an Academy Award?

I think being nominated for an Oscar is more important than winning one. I was nominated by my peers, by other screenwriters. The entire Academy---actors, directors, producers, etc.---will vote for who wins. How meaningful is it to be nominated? Very! The seven nominations for THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, most importantly Best Picture and Best Director, mean that the broadest possible audience will see the film. That is hugely gratifying---especially in light of the fact that it took fourteen years to get the film made. Of course, I would like to win an Oscar---who wouldn't? But the honor to be in the company of five best (in any category) is irreplaceable. I am very proud of the nomination. I am looking forward to the event itself. At my age---and given that my day job is being a novelist---I can't expect to ever get to be there again. I've written nine novels, have almost finished a tenth. I've written three screenplays, but THE CIDER HOUSE RULES is the first to be produced. It's a thrill and a privilege to go to the Oscars.

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2. If you could meet with any three living individuals, who would they be?

I don't wish to meet any living individuals. I know enough people already. I am always happy to meet other writers. Of course, it's nice to meet people who've done remarkable things, but I'm not sure how valuable it is. I mean, of course, it's fun. I met Kirk Douglas recently, and I loved that---we are both members in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, we have that in common, and I always admired him as an actor. I enjoyed having lunch with Charlton Heston recently. While we are politically far apart (in most people's eyes), we were on common ground on the issue of abortion rights---we both believe in them. That was interesting. I just don't think about this question of meeting people. I meet enough people.

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3. What is your definition of fiction? At what point does something autobiographical have to be altered, in your mind, to be fiction?

I don't think autobiographical fiction is interesting because it is so very limited. I imagine big novels. Period. If there are autobiographical details (mostly small things) that I can use, I will use them, but they're not ever what's important in my novels. The whole autobiographical question bores me.

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4. In my AP Language Composition class we have an authors dinner and I chose to be you. We have to bring a food item that represents our author. What is your favorite food, or what food do you think represents you best?

Tomatoes.

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5. I teach dyslexic children and understand you have this learning disability. How did you overcome it?

Dyslexia is a term that means many things to many people. I had (still have)some kind of learning disability. It made going to school hard. I don't know how I overcame it except by wanting to read and write, and recognizing that these things would simply take me more time to do than they took my friends. I don't complain about being a slow writer or reader. I like writing and reading slowly. It was not easy to be slow as a student, however, when you are judged by how quickly you can absorb and retain a wide range of information. I could never be a good student. I don't have any difficulty being a good writer. And now that I'm not in school, I'm a good reader---just a slow one.

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6. What is God's plan for YOU?

I am not especially religious, personally. I go to church rarely. I don't presume to know if God exists---sometimes I think so, sometimes not. I would never presume to guess what God's plan for me is, or even if God has a plan. I find religion interesting. The subject of belief is a tantalizing one. I am intellectually curious about it. I have an open mind about it. I dislike loudmouthed believers and atheists about equally. I think belief is a personal thing.

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7. What role does religion play in your life, if any?

As I said above, I go to church rarely. When I do, it's because something about the experience moves me. I have two good friends who are ministers; I know other ministers and I generally like them. Sometimes I pray, but not regularly. I pray for the health and happiness of my children. Is this really of interest to anyone but me? I don't imagine so.

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8. Your books, essentially, seem to be about grace and acceptance. What influences helped mold this outlook in your writing, and perhaps in your life?

Accept the things you can not change, right? Who said that? We1l, just because you have to accept those things doesn't mean that they have to please you. I do not very gracefully accept things I don't like in real life. In my novels, maybe some degree of graceful acceptance is perceived as a virtue, and sometimes certainly it is, but, personally, I tend to rant and rave about the things I detest, like most people.

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9. What is your favorite of all your books, and why?

I have written an Introduction to Charles Dickens's GREAT EXPECTATIONS, the Bantam Classic paperback edition. That Introduction is also published in a collection of my shorter works, TRYING TO SAVE PIGGY SNEED, which is published by Ballantine. That essay is the best answer to this question that exists. Go read it.

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10. If Dickens showed up for one day, what would you a) hope to get out of him and, b) who would you want to introduce him to?

This is one of those speculative "real life" questions that have no meaning to me. I would take Dickens to see a good movie. If Dickens were alive today, he would still be a novelist but he would also be a screenwriter and probably a director. He had a dramatic interest, which today would not be satisfied in the theater. He would probably be making movies and writing novels. But I don't really think about questions of this kind.

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11. What are your thoughts on the present political situation in Austria, as it regards Joerg Haider?

I don't know much about Austria right now. I was in Vienna when the news about Waldheim's past was circulated, and it was disconcerting to see how he was embraced for this by the Austrians. Vienna has always struck me as a small, provincial town with a small town's xenophobia. Austrians have a poor record of accepting "others." Even the way they say "Auslander"---foreigner---has an edge to it that's derogatory. I stopped skiing there some years ago because the Austrians are ruder than other Europeans I have skied with. I don't know why. I don't live in Vienna anymore---I haven't lived there in a long time, and I won't live there again. I don't think about Austria much anymore.

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12. Is wrestling superior to all other sports and if so, why?

No, wrestling isn't necessarily "superior" to other sports. Any athlete who dedicates himself or herself to any sport should not be insulted by hearing someone say his or her sport is "superior." I liked wrestling better than any other sport. I loved it. I competed as a wrestler for twenty years. I coached the sport until I was forty-seven. I retired then (that was ten years ago), and I have no connection to wrestling anymore. I try to see some matches every year. I go to the NCAA tournament when I can. I will always love wrestling for the discipline it taught me. And I will also love the sport itself. But I know people who are as passionate about tennis or skiing as I was about wrestling. Now I'm just a spectator. I follow what happens in the sport. I have many wrestling and ex-wrestler friends, but I'm not part of it to the degree that I was.

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I try to keep the formatting of this newsletter as simple as possible. Because there are a zillion different email systems out there, however, this will look great on some systems, not so great on others. If you have a problem with hard returns (where there's a short line, then a long line, short line, long line, etc.) you should try to widen your email window by dragging on the lower right corner of an open email. If you have a problem with a link, make sure your email hasn't split the link up and deactivated it.