Product Description
Since 1986, New Stories from the South has brought the best short fiction of the year to the attention of a national audience. The series has been called “the collection others should use as a model” (the Charlotte Observer), and for twenty years it has held to that standard.

When Anne Tyler helped us celebrate the first ten years of the series in Best of the South, 1986–1995, the reviews were ecstatic. “A triumph of authentic voices and unforgettable characters,” said Southern Living. “An introduction to some of the best writers in the world today,” raved the Northwest Arkansas Times. Now that the anthology has reached its twentieth birthday, Anne Tyler has done it again. From the 186 stories found in the ten volumes from 1996 to 2005, she has picked her favorites and introduced them with warmth, insight, and her own brand of quiet literary authority.

Once again, her choices reflect her love of the kind of generous fiction she has called “spendthrift.”Here are twenty stories—by both famous and first-time writers, from Lee Smith and Max Steele to Gregory Sanders and Stephanie Soileau—that hold nothing back. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

anyone recall...
anyone recall a Southern short-story about a girl who marries a tree? Which anthology? Thanks for any help!
BC

Best of the South
I enjoyed the book except for some of the language, F--- this and that (in just a few stories).I thought the south was the last enclave of a more ... refined writing

Some Good, Some Great
I purchased this book for a college course and found the stories generally enjoyable. I'm an English major and read a fair amount of fiction, some of which is lacking, and this is definitely a decent read.

One story in particular, Faith Healer by Lucia Nevai, was one I found deeply affecting. In my long history of reading powerful and emotional novels I've become teary eyed one or twice at most but after reading Faith Healer I found myself completely in tears. I don't completely know why but I absolutely loved the story.

A refreshing View of The South
The South is responsible for the birth of blues, jazz, rock and roll, and a myriad of other American cultural staples. Yet, most often it is portrayed in books and movies as a backwards place filled with Beverly Hillbillies rejects and racist. That is why Best of The South is such a welcome and refreshing collection.

In this collection there are tales that highlight many aspects of southern life. FLA. Boys is a story of lost innocence that may have never existed and is a true heartbreaker. Birdland is one of my favorite short stories bar none. It is a look at the regionalism of the south, the way others view the south, tradition, and how southerners view their selves. William Gay also lends a powerful and heart wrenching story, Those Deep Elm Brown's Ferry Blues, about dealing with parent's suffering with Alzheimer's.

Those are just a few of the gems that make this a sparkling anthology of literature. That they show the true depth and breadth of southern life, intellect, and art only serves as polish on already shining gold.

Truly the Best
Each year, I look forward to Algonquin's Best Stories of the South. To have the best of the best all in one book is a treat. Some of my favorite stories reside in these pages. "Memorial Day" is one of my ALL TIME favorite short stories. If you enjoy the short story form--and appreciate the Southern voice in its varied and rich tones, then this should be a staple on your bookshelf. ... Read more

Product Description
In the small town of Larksville, the Pike family is hopelessly out of step with the daily rhythms of life after the tragic, accidental death of six-year-old Janie Rose. Mrs. Pike seldom speaks, blaming herself, while Mr. Pike is forced to come out of his long, comfortable silence. Then there is ten-year-old Simon, who is suddenly without a baby sister -- and without understanding why she's gone.

Those closest to this shattered family must learn to comfort them -- and confront their own private shadows of hidden grief. If time cannot draw them out of the dark, then love may be their only hope.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Early Anne Tyler
This novel is about a southern family, specifically about the relationship between
a cousin and a little boy whose sister has just died.The cousin has a boyfriend
who will never marry her.He spends his time nursing his hypochondriac brother.
The cousin runs away and eventually comes back with the realization that nothing
will change between her and her boyfriend.

Even her worst is better than most
I thought I'd read all of Tyler's work but there it was, The Tin Can Tree, new to me. Tyler is one of those writers who can cover familiar ground and yet in each novel have you see it in a new and profound way. Perhaps it's that she so clearly draws the characters that their views on family life are so unique to them, as in real life each of us sees things in our own way. I stand in awe of Tyler -- she makes writing well look easy. And we all know from reading other writers, it ain't easy.

What is not said

This was only ths second of Anne Tyler's so far seventeen novels (1965), and, though I don't think it is one of her best, it is still one that carried me along. It is set in an unnamed tobacco-growing state, perhaps North Carolina.The most dramatic event happened before the novel opened and is not described - the death in an accident of a little girl called Janie Rose Pike; and nothing much - let alone anything dramatic - happens until very near the end of the book.Janey's mother is almost catatonic with grief and hardly speaks to anyone.Not that the other characters (except Ansell - see below) are ever very articulate. They communicate with each other in a laconic, often monosyllabic way, leave short sentences unfinished, and sometimes scarcely listen to each other, following their own trains of thought.Janey's little brotherSimon - his age is never given, but I guess he is about eight - must be affected both by his sister's death and by his mother being totally withdrawn and paying no attention to him; but really this is our interpretation: there are lots of little boys who behave the way he does without being bereft.He is fond of his 26 year old cousin Joan who has been living with the family for some years and has helpedlooking after him and Janey Rose.Joan, too, must be affected by Janey Rose's death, but again this is something we must assume, since what seems to upset her most is having to cope with her aunt's withdrawal.Joan also has anotherproblem: she is in love with James, a close neighbour and friend of the Pike family;but James feels he has to look after his weird brother Ansell, who may actually have something wrong with his health but is certainly a demanding hypochondriac with a torrent of talk -which Joan and the other members of that laconic community find hard to cope with.No wonder that Ansell feels aggrieved that nobody is listening to him.

This is an understated book and we have to get below its surface, and it is understandable that some readers will have found the surface too humdrum to hold their attention.

Anne Tyler is always great
I've repeatedly called her the world's greatest living author, and last year I waxed melodic about my "Anne Tyler Project" which involved reading all her works, with no other lesser authors cutting in, in the order she wrote them. But what I may have failed to mention is that two titles weren't available in Chiang Mai. I ordered them from Amazon, and after resisting the urge this long, it's time to enjoy them.

This is an oldie, almost as old as this here reviewer, and it starts immediately after the funeral of a six-year-old girl. It didn't take me long at all to remember what's so remarkable about Anne Tyler. She writes real life. Characters you have known, sharp observations that you read in a second and think about for an hour, wit, description, wisdom, humor, insight, warmth, that knowing chuckle or smile you get of "so true, so true," plot or what the wags call a lack of one. If you reduce a real person's life to a series of plot points, you wind up with no clue whatsoever what that person's about. If you don't believe me, read Anne Tyler. You'll learn what writing is, and if you also learn that you can't do it, so what? Just enjoy what she can do.

I grew up in a very large Southern family which I have referred to as the funeral of the week club. Grandaddy had 8 brothers and sisters, Gramma had 7, all of them had a buncha young'uns, and that's just Mom's side of the family. With so many relatives, somebody just had to die every time you turned around. I consider myself an expert on funerals, and on the feeding frenzy afterwards. I could be relied on to drink all of the deceased's grape juice, and Gramma was fairly quick to realize I wasn't raiding the wine cellar at age 6.

But I digress. Anne Tyler grew up in North Carolina, too. She took me right back there, and writing just doesn't get any more real than this.

When we write, one of our goals is to take the reader out of his world for a little while by putting him in one just as real. One of our other goals is for that reader to remember our story after he's finished reading it. On both these counts, nobody ever has or ever will do it better than Anne Tyler. I am one jaded old [...], but she never fails to move me.

Not one of Anne Tyler's better books
I am a big fan of Anne Tyler and have read most of her books and liked every one of them EXCEPT for "The Tin Can Tree". It was boring. Plain and simple. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Another excellent Tyler novel showcasing a unique person
Tyler's most recognizable feature is her unique characters. To say many of her characters are off center is being polite. Many are just plain strange, but almost always in an appealing way. Tyler loves people, especially those who choose to approach life with their own unique view despite what society tells them. She is not naive about people, and the eternally unhappy person usually makes an appearance, but it is the strange and wonderful which capture her attention.


Celestial Navigation is Tyler's 5th novel, published in 1974 -- long before praise started coming her way. It focuses on Jeremy, a 38-year-old bachelor who has lived with his mother while rarely leaving their house. At the outset we find the mother has died and Jeremy's sisters enter the picture. The mother had turned their house into a boarding house, so Jeremy has company, but over the years he strays less and less from home until he is nearly confined inside. He is an artist with a studio on the top floor, and although at times he is a teacher to some budding artist, his detached and strange ways usually finds them leaving.

In the midst of all the changes comes Mary. She has left her husband and moved to Baltimore with her daughter to be with her new lover, but that eventually ends. Jeremy, much to his surprise, falls in love. Despite his strange ways and unattractive appearance (and Tyler excels in this description), she falls for him as well. In one of my favorite lines, after she tells him no to his marriage proposal, he shocks with the casual line: "What hope do you have for a better life, if you keep on saying no to everything new?"

They have a brood of children and Jeremy begins to make small excursions out and becomes successful as an artist. But now that he has Mary and all he wants, he finds himself drifting once again. The title refers to how Jeremy gets through life, by following his path in the heavens. He steers by a force unseen by others and unknown to him, but it is a path nonetheless.

Tyler writes the book from the perspectives of many characters. Only when doing it from Jeremy's perspective do we get more of a 3rd person narrative. This inconsistency would get Tyler bad marks in a creative writing program, but it works because Jeremy lacks the self consciousness of other people. Tyler takes us through 13 years of his life and we see people sail in and out of his life, but he continues on as before. Characters like Jeremy serve well to make us reexamine our own choices, but Tyler does not use them as foils for our own self interest. Her unique people are to be accepted and even treasured for who they are individually.

Where Tyler is sometimes criticized is for romanticizing characters and lives (okay, she is also criticized for not having much in the way of sex in her books, but I always thought that was a stupid thing to say about anyone). But Tyler is not romantic about her characters, as this novel will show you, although she is hopeful for them. If that constitutes a weak writer, I hope she continues losing strength!

An Ethereal Artist Tries to Relate to the World
This is the story of Jeremy - - an ethereal/otherworldly/inept artist and his relationships with the world he lives in.Sometimes his behaviors seem autistic.

The ending is disappointing.He finally leaves his cocoon-world to visit his lover and children who have left him and he decides that he doesn't want to be with them because they want to take care of him.However, he lets things happen to him and makes no motions to act or react.He only absorbs like blotter paper.

The book is beautifully written.

Celestial Navigation
Sometimes my breath is taken away by how good a writer Anne Tyler is. She manages to describe things so beautifully, so realistically, that you can't help but be dragged into her stories and come to know her characters. Celestial Navigation is a novel that I enjoyed very much, and although some of the characters are frustrating (beyond belief at some points), you can at least completely understand why they are behaving like this.

Various chapters are narrated by different characters, and two of my personal favourites were Amanda Pauling (Jeremy's sister) and Miss Vinton (one of Jeremy's lodgers). Both women are - what was horribly called in those days - 'old maids', but they are fascinating women with stories to tell. I loved the section where Miss Vinton was describing how she liked to be alone because I share many of her feelings. There was also a sentence in the section narrated by Amanda Pauling that really got to me, which was: 'I suspected all along that I would never get what comes to others so easily'. There are many other wonderful passages in the book that are full of meaning.

**Some spoilers follow**
I guess the main reason why I'm not giving the book five stars, is that the two main characters were very frustrating at times. Jeremy Pauling is a wonderful artist, who is completely wrapped up in his own world and struggles to see anything beyond it. Mary Tell is the young woman Jeremy falls in love with, who has a daughter and is struggling to survive on her own. The book follows what happens over the following years after Mary agrees to marry Jeremy, for security more than anything else. I sympathised with both the characters, and could understand many of their choices, and yet I was still aggravated by Jeremy's selfishness (not acting like a grown-up in his relationship with Mary, always being passive and never taking actions into his own hands) and also Mary's selfishness (giving birth to five more children when it was clear that Jeremy couldn't handle it and it was getting too much). It was very sad, because I wanted Jeremy and Mary to work out their marriage, but I felt that it was practically impossible for them to do so because of their personalities.

Overall, the book is an excellent character study. You feel as if you completely understand the characters and their motivations, even if you wish they would be able to change.

No happy endings...
A 38-year-old bachelor who's never seemed quite part of the general world, Jeremy Pauling never imagined his mother's death could really change his orderly life. Yet the need to bring another person into their Baltimore boarding house also brings Mary and her four-year-old daughter Darcy into Jeremy's world. Now his mind is set upon winning Mary - and despite his social awkwardness and fears, Jeremy is determined to do so.

No one is more stunned than Jeremy himself when Mary accepts. Yet the reasons behind Mary's choice are complex. Having left one man in favor of another, who brought her to Baltimore and abandoned her, Mary feels that Jeremy is the smartest choice for herself and her young daughter.

As the years pass and the Pauling family grows, it seems impossible to imagine a time when Mary and Jeremy weren't a couple. Despite his lifelong tendency toward isolation - especially when engrossed in his art - Jeremy has to admit his wife and children have become an integral part of him.

As for Mary, she's struggled all her adult life with getting relationships right. Now that she's ready for real commitment, what happens if Jeremy isn't - or can't?

As always, Tyler knows how to weave a captivating family saga, detailing the major and minor episodes of life from numerous people's POV. Additionally, she doesn't shy away from reality; life doesn't always work out the way we might like, and neither do her books.

I usually really like Anne Tyler but...
...I cannot get through this book. To me it began dragging its feet by the 4th page, and there are so few likable characters in this story you just find yourself reading and wondering why.I have not finished it yet, it's taking a long time because I keep putting it down, so there's hope it gets better.I'm not holding my breath, though. ... Read more

Product Description
"Without Anne Tyler, American fiction would be an immeasurably bleaker place."
NEWSDAY
Evie Decker is a shy, slightly plump teenager, lonely and silent. But her quiet life is shattered when she hears the voice of Drumstrings Casey on the radio and becomes instantly attracted to him. She manages to meet him, bursting out of her lonely shell--and into the attentive gaze of the intangible man who becomes all too real....


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Wondering
I was sitting here reading the reviews of this book and am amazed that so many people said she carved the name on her forehead.At the very end of the book it is revealed that she didn't do it. It was done to her in the restroom of the club.For all the trauma of being a teen she is accepting of her fate without whining or remorse. I had the feeling that her life was heading in more satisfactory directions at the end.Her whole life would have been different if she had she admitted she did not do the facial carving. Anne Tyler has pointed out in more than one book about the "if" possibilities.I liked the book and appreciated the ending.

A Teenage Outcast Thinks She's in Love
A young teenage girl feels like an outcast in her own life.She is being brought up by her father who was widowed at the girl's birth.The girl has only one friend.For some reason, she becomes obsessed with a singer she hears on the radio and feels like he will be the love of her life.She machinates a way to hear him perform livebut does not know how to get his attention.She has an epiphany.By carving the letters of his name on her forehead, he will pay attention to her!Unfortunately, she carves the letters in mirror image, backward.What happens next?You will have to read this wonderful novel to find out.It is definitely worth the short time it will take to read it.

5 star Tyler emerges with this book
This book from Anne Tyler's earlier works, kicks off her greater novels to come. The story of a teenager's fascination with a rockstar-wannabee "Drumsticks Casey" in her North Carolina hometown has a nice flow. Evie Decker is the 17 year-old protagonist and she's just as bright and flawed as all the quirky characters we've come to know through Tyler's writing. I wondered where this story was going plot-wise all throughout the book and for me that's great reading entertainment. This is a good one!

A Likely Childhood
You may find yourself reminiscing about your own childhood as you read this novel.Put your feet up and enjoy!

Anne Tyler is always excellent
Is there a better author alive today? Nope, I still can't think of one. I read this in a single sitting.

I gave the lady a short review last week, and I'm going to do it again now. I started with her first published book and am happily working my way forward through a career that the rest of us can only dream about. Not because of any financial rewards, but just because she knows she gave us this, an amazing body of literature that will always be there.

This book and IF MORNING EVER COMES have a special charm for me because they bring back memories of my own childhood. It's been said she moved her writing out of the South, but I don't think you can take the South out of the writer. I'll find out.

I went to used bookstores, but you can probably go to the local library. Do what I'm doing. Get all her books, start with the oldest, work your way to the newest, and just marvel and enjoy.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Oh, Rebecca, why?
While the book was entertaining, I felt that there were a couple of critical decisions made by the main character, Rebecca, that were not fully explored and given enough time to build upon so that one would understand Rebecca's decision for her choice.

A Little Gem
I wasn't expecting to laugh out loud as I read this endearing story ofRebecca Davitch, who was widowed early in her marriage and was left to carry on her late husband's family business of hosting parties in the family's aging, once-elegant-now-rather-shabby, money pit of an old house. As she goes through the throes of midlife's "what ifs", she begins to question the constant demands of her colorful and fractious extended family whose members constantly barge in on her life, as well as her "bubbly, let's-all-have-fun" personality that she seems to have developed as a result of people's expectations of her after her many years of party-hosting. Her ongoing critical self-appraisal of the metamorphosis of her hair, body and clothes is humorous and identifiable to readers of a certain age! Her decision to seek out her old boyfriend is both funny and poignant. Loved this book.

What Will Be... Will Be...
Rebecca Davitch is a 53 year old woman, who finds herself, in life, at a place she never expected. She simply thinks she is the wrong person. What happened to her life? One minute she was an aspiring history major in college, and the next she was a middle aged woman, who widowed early in her marriage, has raised, on her own, 4 daughters, 3 of them from her husband's previous marriage. Taking over the Davitch family business of hosting parties in their large, but always in need of repair, home, also became part of her exsistence. She has been and seems will always be, the glue that holds this growing family together. Always there to smooth out the wrinkles and motivate the troops.

But what of Rebecca's wants and needs? Who will ever see to them? Is her college boyfriend, who she left for her husband, the answer to her quest for the real Rebecca, or is her life just as it should be?

Anne Tyler's "Back When We Were Grownups" is a wonderful take on midlife and family life. Rebecca's thoughts and feelings seem so real, almost anyone who's been there can identify with this woman. You may have even thought some of the same thoughts as Rebecca. The family and friends who surround her could be any family, anywhere, including all the everday challenges that life presents. The story is humorous, touching and at times poignant. It reminded me a bit of Doris Day's song, "Que Sera, Sera" It is a tale of finding peace with who you are, and it is one that although starts out a little slow, will have you falling in love with the characters and wishing there was more by the end.

Also available on audio with a fabulous reading from Blair Brown:Back When We Were Grownups

A wonderful life story,told with a quiet humor that gives you the feeling you're with an old friend.

Enjoy....Laurie ... Read more

Product Description
Published to high praise--"groundbreaking . . . a landmark" (Poets and Writers)--this was the first anthology to celebrate the diversity of women who write. Seventeen novelists, poets, and writers of nonfiction explore how they have become writers, why they write, and what it means to be a woman and a writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A classic
Both volumes are rich in insight on what it is that drives the impulse to write.The range of writers -- all women -- makes THE WRITER ON HER WORK an invaluable resource. There'sa reason some books are destined to become classics. -- Deborah Batterman, author, Shoes Hair Nails

A Wonderful Collection
As a young writer, Janet Sternburg searched for a book about woman writers: how they came to be, how they viewed their lives, how they treated their work. It was the seventies and none existed, so she put together The Writer on Her Work and it was published in 1981 - a book featuring women writing about writing. This year marks its anniversary (thus, the new edition) with a touching preface by Julia Alvarez, plus an updated introduction and bios of the 17 women who contributed to the landmark collection. Established, unknown and up-and-coming writers of the time - including Maxine Hong Kingston, Joan Didion and Alice Walker - reflect on writing and lives as writers, through heartfelt and sometimes hilarious commentary.The value of this book is reading how these women, writing in different genres, pursued their passion in the face of opposition. Whether that opposition took on the form of household responsibilities, writer's block, dissenting peers or a male-dominated marketplace, it's interesting tackling the dilemma through their eyes and in that time; making a place for themselves, and their work, discovering in that world, she dominates. This speaks to the heart of the book, a community of women's voices, whether alive or deceased, writing because they had to, sharing profound experiences and reflections on being a woman creating. The Writer on Her Work offers diverse personalities expressing their romance with words, also acknowledging the ups and downs that come with that relationship. Each essay is an inspiring testament to the continuing struggle and undeniable beauty of the female spirit in print.

Important Essays, Important Themes
I've loved this book since 1980, when I bought a copy and read it and lentit and recommended it many times over since then. This new edition is evenbetter. The pieces, personal and trenchant, ingeniously selected bySternburg over twenty years ago, have withstood the test of time.

Thereis deep feeling, variety, astonishing articulation of complex things, andwarmth and humor in these essays. Many ofthe writers fight to write, andshow us their battle plans. It's inspiring and encouraging, and sometimesit's sad.Some - I am thinking of young writer Michele Murray, whostruggled against terrible odds - are heartbreaking. Anne Tyler's darklyhumorous recitation of her typical working day, "Still JustWriting," is a classic. Alice Walker's essay, "One Child of One'sOwn" speaks to motherhood, and its fragile but undeniable relationshipto a writing life.

The new Preface, by Dominican-born Vermonter JuliaAlvarez, is touching and insightful and very personal - in keeping with therest of the book - and speaks to the concerns of the essays. Sternberg hasalso edited her orignal Introduction, and updated the contributors' notesat the book's end.

Without question I'd recommend this wonderful book toanyone interested in reading women on the process of writing, the art ofmemoir, and the considered and considerably interesting opinions of a groupof very wonderful writers. ... Read more

Product Description
An early triumph from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Breathing Lessons and Saint Maybe. Duncan Peck is a restless man, constantly moving his family. His wife Justine is a fortune teller. Her grandfather is on a quest for the brother he lost in 1912. Soon, all three of them will journey back to the family's deepest roots. Previous publisher: Avon paperback. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

100 Years
Follow a century in the life of a family in this true to life story that leaps right off the page.

Fantastic
Hi again. Anne Tyler is still great. Her versatility is a marvel to behold. With every book, I see her pushing her own limits and making it look oh so easy. In THE CLOCK WINDER, she wrote a "whole family saga" spanning years and generations. Here, she really explodes, covering an entire century or thereabouts and making it as real as it gets. Amazing.

Maybe I should pause to read some garbage or else I'll run out of superlatives. Nah, I can't do that, so maybe you should do this. After you celebrate Read An Ebook week, go to the library or bookstore and stock up on Anne Tyler. You'll forget to turn on your computer during Shutdown Day and everybody will be happy.

Searching ... and finding ... and having it still turn sour

A novel concerned more with its characters than any storyline, it's basically about the Peck family, especially the brothers Daniel and Caleb. Caleb, a musician, is not at all interested in the family business, which he is expected to take over with Daniel, and he runs away. The year is 1912. Daniel, and then his offspring, spend much of their lives looking for him.

Finally, after a private detective is hired, Caleb is located living in an old folks home for the poor in Louisiana. You'd expect this to be a good thing, but after all that, things don't turn out so hot: Daniel dies before being reunited with his brother and Justine, Daniel's granddaughter who brings Caleb home, is disappointed with him and leaves. It's a dark theme, but honest in its way, and Tyler handles it well. It's the most interesting thing about the book - the irony of the good turning bad. The book has a scattered feel about it, however, and some of the subplots are never resolved.

a little long but brilliant
There were a lot of great moments for me in "Searching For Caleb"...if it was condensed a little, (40-50 pages) this could've garnered an easy 5 stars from this reader. Though I love Anne Tyler's style of writing where she peels back the layers of her characters fascade, for me, I love it when she stays more linear, as opposed to all the long back-tracking, and gets on with the storyline, as in Ladder of Years and Accidental Tourist.
Still, her writing style is very thought provoking. I found myself pondering over my relationships with my own female cousins, as well as current relationships with my family members and girlfriend.
I thought Justine was hard to figure out, and at first it didn't seem believable that she was becoming as eccentric as her husband/cousin Duncan. I liked the way Tyler addresed this isssue towards the end of this very in depth journey into their lives.

Not impressed
Searching For Caleb had a new setting every five pages, family members who walked out and wouldn't have come back until they were "kidnapped", and chaotic events that led to a suicide, all of which made this book interesting in an unusual way.
This book is first set on a train going to New York City in the year of 1972. Then the scene changes to Cairo Mill, Maryland. Suddenly it changes to Baltimore, Maryland in the 1800's. A bit later it changes to Baltimore in 1980. Anne Tyler told most of the story in Maryland, but at the end, she changes to Louisiana. The story was about the Peck family, which was a very sophisticated family. Wealthy, respectable, self-involved, they always wore hats.Even the little girls never went out of the house without a hat on. Basically the story was about Daniel Peck's search for his brother, Caleb, who walked off in 1912. It was also about his granddaughter Justine Peck's realization that she will never be the Peck that she always dreamed to be. The concept of this book, then, is finding oneself.
Daniel Peck's main conflict was evident in his search for Caleb. When Caleb was in his twenties he just walked out on the family and didn't return or make contact with any family member. The search started when Daniel moved in with Duncan and Justine Peck. Daniel spent years researching and visiting people who might have known Caleb. He would visit people that were Caleb's friends or appeared in pictures with Caleb. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no luck. So when Daniel's birthday came, his oldest son "Two" hired him a private investigator to search for Caleb. The private investigator headed straight to work asking questions. He found out that when Caleb was younger all one would have to do to find Caleb was "Hold still a minute and listen." He found out how Caleb loved music. He also went searching to Caleb's home in Baltimore.Then the private investigator learned where Caleb was just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. The private investigator told the Pecks this but before Daniel could meet Caleb, Daniel died of a heart attack.
This book was draining yet funny; mostly draining. The hardest part was keeping track of what part the story was in, whether the past or the present.Also the Peck family was absolutely insane. Actually two cousins ended up married to each other. That caused so much chaos that a separation, a disowning and a suicide happened over the event. Then Justine and Duncan were constantly moving because Duncan would become restless and wanted a change. Justine just went along very easily but Meg, their daughter, hated moving. She locked herself in the bathroom a few times.Daniel did not begin looking for his brother for practically 30 years after Caleb walked out. The comical parts were the best. For instance, all the time that Daniel was searching for Caleb his old maid knew right where Caleb was. When Caleb left, he had told her where he was going. Yet she never told anyone because no one ever asked her. In addition, Duncan would cut out newspaper clippings and stick them to things.To the old Ford that the door was torn off he stuck a clipping that said "Wouldn't you rather have a Buick?". When Meg bought an expensive dress, his cut out was "Have you ever had a bad time in Levi's?" One of Justine's neighbor was divorced and the father of her child who had no visiting rights would come and take the daughter. The mother would scream and shout about her daughter being kidnapped, yet every night the father brought the child home safe and sound.
This book was very interesting, but a strange kind of interesting.It never really caught my attention; rather it often put me to sleep.It was summer reading, the kind you get on a book list.I would suggest it to people if they didn't really have anything else to read. But some will like it. I found it too scattered in place and time and too slow moving.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Anne Tyler Book
Quick delivery - it came long before it was due.Book was in condition as described.

Great summer read
This is a great, easy, summer read. The characters are fun, quirky and surprisingly easy to relate to.

APathchwork Planet
This was the first book of A. Tyler's that I read. I thought the most beautifully written. Somehow the title suits the book and a beautifully crafted work. The characters are human, a bit sad and you find yourself cheering them on. This book enticed me to read her others. I also liked Ladder of Years, but not as much. Breathing Lessons for which she won the Pulitzer I felt was not as good as her later works.

Amazing bargain
This volume is a collection of three novels by Anne Tyler: "A Patchwork Planet" of 1998, "Ladder of Years" of 1995, and "Saint Maybe" of 1991. Hardbound and durable, this volume is a better option for a reader who has started reading Anne Tyler, and even for the reader who already owns one or two paperbacks with novels contained in this volume. This volume is simply beautiful. Pleasant serif typeface, good, bright paper, nice cover artwork, and finally, amazingly low cost. You get three hardbound novels for a price of one paperback. In addition, all three novels of Anne Tyler belong to the more interesting subset of her literary heritage, so there is really nothing to be suspicious about here. Psst, do not tell anyone I have said that, but such bargains are possible only in North America. Nowhere else I would be able to get hold of three interesting novels combined in one hardbound volume for almost nothing. Do not hesitate, dear reader, and rush to purchase this collection. Now! ... Read more

Product Description
When Joe Davitch first saw Rebecca, it was at a party at the Davitch home - a crumbling nineteenth-century house in Baltimore where giving parties was the family business. Young Rebecca looked to Joe like the girl having more fun than anyone in the room and he wanted some of that happiness to spill over onto him, a 33-year-old divorce with three little girls. Swept away, Rebecca soon found herself mistress of 'The Open Arms', embracing not only this large spirited man and his extended family but expertly hosting endless parties in the ornate, high-ceilinged rooms where people pay to have family celebrations in style. But now, years after she has lost her husband in a car accident, Beck (as she is known to the Davitch clan) asks herself whether she is an impostor in her own life. Is she really this natural-born celebrator, joyous and outgoing? Can she always be there for Poppy, her almost 100-ear-old uncle-in-law who lives on the top floor, for stepdaughters - Biddy and NoNo and Patch and the husbands and fiances, as they come and go, and their children - and for her own daughter Min Foo, pregnant again?What would have happened if she'd married her blond college sweetheart, Will, back then when they were so young and so serious and so sure about everything? Can one ever recover the person one has left behind - and would one ever like them? With perfect pitch, Anne Tyler explores these unsettling questions of love and loss, of identity and family, moving with breathtaking assurance between heartbreak and hilarity, between tenderness and razor-sharp observation in a novel that we wish would never end. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ebook full of typos
This is a review of the format of this book rather than the actualbook itself. The transcription of the book to electronic format has been done very sloppily. It is full of typos, at least one on every page. Very disappointing. ... Read more

Product Description
Everyday life in Baltimore, USA, is full of little problems getting the washing done, buying groceries and dog food, avoiding the neighbours ...After the death of his son and the departure of his wife, Macon's attempts to run his own life become increasingly odd and more and more comical. Meanwhile, he has to get on with his work, writing tourist guides. Then his dog Edward starts to bite people, and he has to send for Muriel, the dog trainer. And day by day, Macon's life gets more and more complicated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Love, Loneliness, and the Strictures of Society.
Imagine living in a world where life is governed by intricate rituals; a world "balanced so precariously that its harmony [can] be shattered by a whisper" (Wharton); a world ruled by self-declared experts on form, propriety and family history - read: scandal -; where everything is labeled and yet, people are not; where in order not to disturb society's smooth surface nothing is ever expressed or even thought of directly, and where communication occurs almost exclusively by way of symbols, which are unknown to the outsider and, like any secret code, by their very encryption guarantee his or her permanent exclusion.

Such, in faithful imitation of Victorian England, was the society of late 19th century upper class New York. Into this society returns, after having grown up and lived all her adult life in Europe, American-born Countess Ellen Olenska, after leaving a cruel and uncaring husband. She already causes scandal by the mere manner of her return; but not knowing the secret rituals of the society she has entered, she quickly brings herself further into disrepute by receiving an unmarried man, by being seen in the company of a man only tolerated by virtue of his financial success and his marriage to the daughter of one of this society's most respected families, by arriving late to a dinner in which she has expressly been included to rectify a prior general snub, by leaving a drawing room conversation to instead join a gentleman sitting by himself - and worst of all, by openly contemplating divorce, which will most certainly open up a whole Pandora's box of "oddities" and "unpleasantness:" the strongest terms ever used to express moral disapproval in this particular social context. Soon Ellen, who hasn't seen such façades even in her husband's household, finds herself isolated and, wondering whether noone is ever interested in the truth, complains bitterly that "[t]he real loneliness here is living among all these kind people who only ask you to pretend."

Ellen finds a kindred soul in attorney Newland Archer, her cousin May Welland's fiancé, who secretly toys with a more liberal stance, while outwardly endorsing the value system of the society he lives in. Newland and Ellen fall in love - although not before he has advised her, on his employer's and May and Ellen's family's mandate, not to pursue her plans of divorce. As a result, Ellen becomes unreachable to him, and he flees into accelerating his wedding plans with May, who before he met Ellen in his eyes stood for everything that was good and noble about their society, whereas now he begins to see her as a shell whose interior he is reluctant to explore for fear of finding merely a kind of serene emptiness there; a woman whose seemingly dull, passive innocence grinds down every bit of roughness he wants to maintain about himself and who, as he realizes even before marrying her, will likely bury him alive under his own future. Then his passion for Ellen is rekindled by a meeting a year and a half after his wedding, and an emotional conflict they could hardly bear when he was not yet married escalates even further. And only when it is too late for all three of them he finds out that his wife had far more insight (and almost ruthless cleverness) than he had ever credited her with.

Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize and the first work of fiction written by a woman to be awarded that distinction, "The Age of Innocence" is one of Edith Wharton's most enduringly popular novels; the crown jewel among her subtly satirical descriptions of New York upper class society. By far not as overtly condemning and cynical as the earlier "House of Mirth" (for which Wharton reportedly even saw this later work as a sort of apology), "The Age of Innocence" is a masterpiece of characterization and social study alike: an intricate canvas painted by a master storyteller who knew the society which she described inside out, and who, even though she had moved to France (where she would continue living for the rest of her life) almost a decade earlier, was able to delineate late 19th century New York society's every nuance in pitch-perfect detail, while at the same time - seemingly without any effort at all - also blending together all these minute details into an impeccably composed ensemble that will stay with the reader long after he has turned the last page.

Also recommended:
Wharton: Four Novels (Library of America College Editions)
Edith Wharton:Vol 1. Collected Stories:1891-1910 (Library of America)
Edith Wharton: Vol.2 Collected Stories 1911-1937 (Library of America)
Henry James : Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians (Library of America)
Henry James: Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove (Library of America)
Ethan Frome
The House of Mirth
Washington Square
The Portrait of a Lady
The Wings of the Dove

"He could not think of a single major act he'd managed of his own accord."
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1985, this thoughtful character novel focuses on Macon Leary, a travel writer who hates to travel, a man who has gone through life observing what is happening, but who has never been truly engaged. Compulsively tidy, Macon has always believed that it is possible to order one's life so effectively that the untidiness, or chaos, that throws life into confusion can be avoided. And then his beloved 12-year-old son is cold-bloodedly murdered in the senseless robbery of a burger joint while he is away at camp for the first time.

It gives away nothing of the plot to say that this event totally undoes Macon and his wife, and their polite and predictable marriage goes into a tailspin. When the novel opens, Macon and Sarah have decided to separate, with Sarah getting her own apartment (where she can be as messy as she wants) and Macon remaining, ostensibly, in their house with his son Ethan's undisciplined dog Edward. In fact, Macon has had an accident and broken his leg, and he has moved back with his sister and brothers in the family house to recuperate from his physical and emotional wounds.

Then into his life comes Muriel, a divorcee with an over-protected, allergic, and hypersensitive son. She is a dog trainer, a flake, the only person willing to undertake the task of civilizing Edward, the aggressive, sometimes vicious "pet" that lives with Macon. As Macon tries to deal with his life, his loss of Sarah (who is dating), his son's dog (which attacks anything that moves), and his commitment to producing yet another travel book, his life becomes more complicated, and the depth of his relationship with Sarah, relative to the shared loss they have faced, becomes an issue which must be revisited if he is ever to engage with life and explore the possibilities of a new life which Muriel offers.

Filled with wonderful descriptions of life, both within Macon's family and in Europe, where he travels for research, the novel provides the reader with a full, realistic picture of marriage between people whose relationship has been, in part, the result of their commitment to their son. Poignant and emotional, but avoiding melodrama, the novel explores the meaning of life and love, the extent to which a marriage may limit or stimulate the growth of the people involved, and the ways in which a marriage must adapt to the new needs of the participants if it is to endure through time.Mary Whipple

It is a book that I reccomend.
It is an attractive story. Macon comes to the best decisions for his life. Muriel helps him learn how to live it. But he can't forget Sarah or Ethan. He wants his own life back. Or does he? It is a book that continues to pull at your thoughts. I always wanted to find out what would happen next but some chapters are too boring. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes dramatic story that have a bit funny.

The review of "The Accidental Tourist"
This "The Accidental Tourist" is not interesting. Each chapters is so-so and the story flows slowly. Moreover,having no climax cannot lead the readers to follow the story. But it has the good point,as well.This book can cheer up the person who has desperated life. Like Macon,after the death of his son and the departure of his wife, he attempts to run his own life hopefully
This book is not very difficult to understand. It is suitable for the students who want to improve their reading skills. ... Read more

Product Description
This first biography of novelist Anne Tyler includes a discussion of her early childhood, high school and college years, adulthood, marriage, and motherhood. It incorporates source materials from the Anne Tyler Papers at Duke University and letters from Tyler to the author. The volume lists all of Tyler's novels, short stories, articles, and book reviews and provides an annotated bibliography of books, articles, dissertations, and theses on her fiction. ... Read more

Product Description
Anne Tyler's novels strike a deep chord of responsiveness in her readers because her novels bring to life contemporary characters to whom we can instantly relate and in whose experiences we can see mirrored our own. Tyler's novels deal with the human experience: relationships between marital partners, between parents and children...between siblings; the meaning of love; the nature of identity; impermanence and change; and loss and continuity. In Anne Tyler novels, life is a complexity whose texture is built out of multiple layers. In this insightful study, Paul Bail shows us how Tyler constructs the complex reality of life through character, narrative point of view, theme, and literary devices. With the exception of Tyler's earliest two novels, which she prefers to forget, a chapter is devoted to each of the other novels she has written. Among the twelve are her unforgettable novels of family relationships and love...loss and renewal, such as Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, and Breathing Lessons. Also included is an analysis of Tyler's most recent novel, A Patchwork Planet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Resource About a Great Author
Anne Tyler is a perceptive writer with an original, slightly off-kilter style.This book includes a chapter of biographical material on Anne Tyler, as well as another chapter discussing the major influences on her--other Southern writers and women writers.There is an extensive discussion of several of her best novels, from the beginning of her career through 1998.Each novel gets a whole chapter devoted to it.Stylistic peculiarities, construction of the novels, character development and theme are covered, with unique insights into how each novel reflects themes in Anne Tyler's life.Tyler shunned publicity and gave very few interviews, but did consent to an interview with the author of this book in order to clarify some fine points.Well researched and well written, this is a treasure for anyone who appreciates Tyler's work. ... Read more

Product Description
Best known as the author of The Accidental Tourist (1985), Anne Tyler has published 13 novels and almost 50 short stories. She has won numerous honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her work has attracted the attention of scholars and general readers alike. This reference book is a guide to her fascinating fictional worlds. An introductory essay overviews her life and career. The volume then presents alphabetically arranged entries for her works and characters and for the various themes that figure prominently in her writings. The entries for her novels consist mostly of commentary. But because her short stories are less accessible, those entries also include extensive plot summaries. Many of the entries include bibliographies of reviews and criticism, and the volume closes with an extensive bibliography and appendices of places and songs mentioned in her works. ... Read more

Product Description
With the movie version of "The Accidental Tourist" and the awarding of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to "Breathing Lessons", Anne Tyler has achieved widespread success. Joseph Voelker argues that Tyler's work also deserves serious attention, and his study of her novels and most significant short stories reveals Tyler's subtle but compelling narrative artistry. Voelker sees Tyler's Quaker background as important to her development as a storyteller who acknowledges the autonomy of her characters, differentiates little between them on account of gender and provides them with a domestic space comparable to the closed communities of the Quakers. As Voelker demonstrates, she frequently initiates her narratives with a phobic moment and then explores the most conservative dimensions of the human psyche, those which Freud called the death instincts.Exploring Tyler's connections with writers such as John Updike and Eudora Welty, Voelker argues that Tyler experiments - underneath a very realistic surface - with narrative voice, point of view and temporal distortion, in her effort to provide the quiet occasion in which her characters may state the insights they seem to earn for themselves. ... Read more