<Tr> <Th> Preceded by </Th> <Td> The Cider House Rules </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Followed by </Th> <Td> A Son of the Circus </Td> </Tr> <P> A Prayer for Owen Meany is the seventh novel by American writer John Irving . Published in 1989, it tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950s and 1960s . According to John's narration, Owen is a remarkable boy in many ways; he believes himself to be God's instrument and sets out to fulfill the fate he has prophesied for himself . </P> <P> The novel is also a homage to Günter Grass's most famous novel, The Tin Drum . Grass was a great influence for John Irving, as well as a close friend . The main characters of both novels, Owen Meany and Oskar Matzerath, share the same initials as well as some other characteristics, and their stories show some parallels . Irving has confirmed the similarities . A Prayer for Owen Meany, however, follows an independent and separate plot . </P>

When was a prayer for owen meany published