The Fourth Hand

The Fourth Hand is a 2001 novel written by the American novelist John Irving. A television correspondent named Patrick Wallingford loses one of his hands while filming near a lion's den at a circus in India. Captured on film and viewed by millions, Patrick becomes an instant celebrity known as "the lion guy." One of the people who witnessed the segment is a woman named Doris Clausen, a Green Bay, Wisconsin housewife, who manages to persuade her h... more

The Fourth Hand is a 2001 novel written by the American novelist John Irving. A television correspondent named Patrick Wallingford loses one of his hands while filming near a lion's den at a circus in India. Captured on film and viewed by millions, Patrick becomes an instant celebrity known as "the lion guy." One of the people who witnessed the segment is a woman named Doris Clausen, a Green Bay, Wisconsin housewife, who manages to persuade her husband, Otto, to donate his left hand to Patrick if something were to happen to him. After Otto's accidental death, Doris carries out her promise with one catch: she wants visiting rights to her dead husband's hand. less