THE WORLD ACCORDING TO IRVING is a world of tattoos and islands won in poker bets, of wrestling and lost hands; with an endearingly eccentric cast of characters, from Henk the maverick tattoo artist to Marty the medical consultant; from a former prostitute photographer to a jolly retired police officer; in a set which stretches from Amsterdam to New Hampshire.

This charming biopic of American writer John Irving is whimsical and meticulous in equal measure, much like the work of Irving himself. Following the writer halfway across the world on a trail of inspiration, encountering a collage of his many acquaintances along the way, it is impossible not to warm to Irving with his zany sense of humour and down-to-earth demeanour. Listening to accounts from those who have helped him to research the plots and characters of his popular novels, one gets a sense of his creative process – a chaotic cacophony of ideas which, through the laborious process of hand-writing the first draft with the stub of an HB pencil, is transformed into an imaginative yet utterly human story which even Irving’s wife Janet could not predict until it is complete. Seemingly niche areas of interest are revealed and combined with such acuity that they appear almost ordinary. Interspersed with quotations from characters in his books, Irving’s own story is woven in with theirs, theirs drawn from his.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO IRVING offers a rare and delightful opportunity to enter a creative mind at work…

Simple, clean and most of all honest, the camerawork employs direct head-on shots of Irving chatting to us as he works in his simple wooden ‘writing shed’, as well as short but stunning pans of the environments in which he places himself, and perspiring gym sessions with the tireless former wrestler. Irving, it seems, is simply welcoming us into his everyday life with the same warmth with which he greets old friends. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO IRVING offers a rare and delightful opportunity to enter a creative mind at work, but most of all to share in his life for a time. If this account of the man does not compel you to read the books, nothing will.