A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel

“A remarkable novel. . . . A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation. ... An amazingly brave piece of work ... so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. . . . Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world.” —STEPHEN KING, Washington Post

I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.

In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary.

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627 pages

Average rating: 7.49

79 RATINGS

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AnnaKata

Apr 10, 2025

1/10 star

For the love of god I couldn’t finish this. It was awful. Too many irrelevant side characters were focused on and scenes kept repeating. Mommy’s dead but let’s talk about it repeatedly for 190 pages. Get to the memories and who she was faster. The novel had a slow pace and could have been shorter to get the point across. Owen was a POS entitled brat especially at the Christmas pageant when he bossed the adults around. Boy that wouldn’t fly IRL. Realistically you would have been kicked out of the show for that behavior. Talking back and telling other kids how to act. He was so creepy to the mom. It’s one thing for men to be that gross with women, but commentating constantly on her figure and boobs as a little boy? To your best friend! Ew. Then when she dies taking her mannequin that looks like her…beyond creepy. An inseparable little boy. This is one of the worst books I’ve ever read for a book club.

Christine Sprague

Oct 19, 2024

Tess Ellis

StephanieLE

Sep 10, 2023

4/10 stars

I did not finish this book. While it had some interesting elements, overall there were too many odd details that didn’t keep my interest and motivate me to continue reading the book.

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