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What's your favorite Anne Tyler book?

I'm torn between several of her books, including Ladder of Years, Noah's Compass, and Saint Maybe, though most of her others aren't far behind. I like the way her books engage with other books and literary tradition, but do so in a way that doesn't seem forced or contrived. Her characters, for the most part, seem so real and possible. Her endings aren't always happy or expected (more like real life), but neither are they wholly tragic or despairing. I'm reading Celestial Navigation right now--waiting anxiously to see if Jeremy and Mary will be able to overcome themselves and come back together. I like the way Tyler adapts Gothic and fairy tale themes to the normal, ordinary people in this book. She has also dealt with Shakespearean characters and themes (Ladder of Years and Noah's Compass, as two examples). And she does it all in very accessible and engrossing stories. She is currently my favorite author. What do you think?

I haven't read any of her books for many years; looks like Saint Maybe might be the last I read although back when that came out she was one of my favourite authors ... just do some catching up and then I can better answer your question

Hi Cali,
She's written some pretty good ones recently. Some of my favorites are Breathing Lessons (won the Pulitzer prize for Tyler, though critics said it wasn't her best), The Accidental Tourist, The Amateur Marriage, and Noah's Compass. Something about her books--I can read them very quickly. Her writing style is lucid, not convoluted, but she somehow packs a lot of detail into not many words. It usually only takes me a couple of days to get through one of her books--and an enjoyable couple of days they are too!

Thanks ... I will hunt down some of the more recent ones she has written

I read her Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant in high school. It was a very interesting character study, but not a very compelling narrative. It was quite useful for an essay or two I had to write about characters. Their family is a bit weird (even dark and twisty, at times) and this novel actually reminds me a lot of We Were the Mulvaneys, although they are not all that similar except they are both warped-family-based dramas.

One of the best authors of the modern era, and absolutely at the top of nineteen eighties writers.

My favorite is Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant but also really enjoyed Breathing Lessons.

And Accidental Tourist...

7shane6.............DITTO!

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is the first Anne Tyler book I ever read, and it's still one of my favorites. I wasn't too impressed by some of her more recent books, such as The Beginner's Goodbye and A Spool of Blue Thread. And Vinegar Girl was horrible! But several of her earlier works are ones that I enjoy rereading from time to time, including Saint Maybe, The Clock Winder, and A Patchwork Planet. I love her quirky, dysfuctional characters, because they remind me of a lot of people I know.