Until I Find You (2005) is the eleventh published novel by John Irving. Until ten months before publication, this novel was originally written in first person. But after realizing that so much of the material—childhood sexual abuse; a long-lost father who eventually ends up in a mental institution—was too close to his own experiences, Irving postponed publication of the novel while he rewrote it entirely in third person. The cover is a close-up photo/illustration of a the side of a woman's breast, with a tattoo on it (as in the novel). The American publisher requested their version be a very close shot of the side of the breast, so the body part in question wouldn't be readily identifiable, and therefore would not offend readers or passersby in the bookstore. The Canadian dustjacket features a close-up that is more readily identifiable as the side of a woman's breast (and is the dust jacket Irving prefers).
Famous quotes containing the word find:
“Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child within us—i.e., the weak, helpless, dependent creature—in order to become an independent competent adult deserving of respect. When we reencounter this creature in our children, we persecute it with the same measures once used in ourselves.”
—Alice Miller (20th century)