An Evening with our Favorite Authors: John Irving, Jonathan Franzen and Azar Nafisi

We've been talking a lot about our favorite books by the author panelists for Forum Book Club - John Irving, Jonathan Franzen and Azar Nafisi. I love all these authors, so it's nearly impossible to choose a favorite work by just one of them, but I can say I'm most connected to Irving's work. My mom bought me A Prayer for Owen Meany when I was in 9th grade, and since then I've read everything he's written. I'm keeping my fingers crossed Irving might sign my recent score, a first edition copy of Owen Meany.

Rereading Meany, I was reminded of this beautiful passage:

"When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time -- the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes -- when there's a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she's gone, forever -- there comes another day, and another specifically missing part."

Do you have a favorite passage from one of the panelists' books?