About this title: How does a man addicted to routine - a man who flosses his teeth before love-making - cope with the chaos of everyday life? With the loss of his son, the departure of his wife and the arrival of Muriel, a dog trainer from the Meow-Bow dog clinic, Macon's attempts at ordinary life are tragically and comically undone.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 1985
ISBN-13:9780394546896ISBN:039454689X
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 355 p. Previous Owner's Inscription. read more
"I had actually forgotten that I read this book about 9 years ago and then something came up today that reminded me of a scene from the novel. I love that when a story lies dormant in me and then resurfaces years later and can still affect my thoughts. I picked up the book because my mom and I had seen the movie a few years earlier and I remembered Geena Davis' character being sort of quirky and amusing. The plot is slow and focuses on internal rather then external forces, but this doesn't mean that I was bored by it. Far from that--it's a story about recovery from profound loss and finding yourself in the most unique places. I don' remember too many specifics about the story--just that it was solidly written and moving. I'll have to pick it up for a brush up soon."
"As the _Washington Post_ said, "A beautiful, incandescent, heartbreaking, exhilarating book . . . One cannot expect fiction to be much better than this." From the book's back cover: "Meet Macon Leary--a travel writer who hates both travel and strangeness. Grounded by loneliness, comfort, and a somewhat odd domestic life, Macon is about to embark on a surprising new journey. It's called love--and it arrives in the unlikely shape of a fuzzy-haired dog obedience trainer who promises to turn the Accidental Tourist into a happy traveler . . ." In this engaging and often hilarious book, Macon learns to break out of his straitjackets and embrace "the flow of time" as an adventure."
"My sweet, late mother-in-law recommended this book to me a few years ago, and I can see why she loved it. The quirky characters are so fun and endearing, and the plot is an unusual one. The title refers to a series of travel books written by stodgy, but tender-hearted hero Macon Leary. He's not the kind of guy who would do what I do when I travel in Europe, i.e,. hop off the train in Paris, run for the first two-star hotel I see, ride up the creeky, caged-in elevator, plop down on the lumpy bed, use the toilet down the hall, and gorge myself on croissants, baguettes and butter the next morning. Oh, no. Macon has made a comfortable living describing to tourists how they can keep their trips abroad as Americanized, uneventful, and uncultural as possible. Macon also has odd siblings who still live together in their ancestral home, alphabetize their groceries, and play an original card game whose rules are so complex they could never explain it to anyone else. When a personal tragedy hits Macon and his wife Sarah, the pain is too much, and she leaves. Macon inadvertently meets Muriel Pritchett, a divorcee several years his junior, who has a young son, and runs a one-woman dog obedience school. She is so charmingly ditzy and Macon is so melancholic and stuffy, that who would ever think . . .? It works, it doesn't work, and will it work again? This all comes together in a very captivating way. The film The Accidental Tourist, which stars William Hurt and Gina Davis, is the most strikingly faithful film version of a book I have ever seen--right down to the sunny, blurred freeze frame at the end, that is described just as such by Tyler."
"Ann Tyler is so polished at the story of common people faced with emotional detours in life. Macon Leary is a writer of colorless business travel guides (for the "accidental tourist"), whose marriage has failed after he and Sarah are rocked by the tragic loss of their 12yr old son Ethan. Sarah moves out and Macon hides a bit in his work, which takes him frequently to Europe. He reluctantly reconnects with some rather staid (and humorously wrought) nearby family members, which only confounds his life further. He meets Muriel, a free-spirited, affable dog-trainer whom he hires to get a handle on dog Edward. Turns out Edward isn't the only one in need of some work. Macon resists opening up to her, but over time the likewise wounded soul begins to loosen the knots some. Tyler draws up some wonderfully quirky, but true-ringing characters and situations. There is harshness, levity, introspection, and very well conceived dialogue. As with other stories, Tyler doesn't wrap this up in a tidy, sunny ending. She is a wise scribe of life's realities and disappointments. I've read others by Tyler which have also entertained me. As a man I would not hesitate picking up her works. This won the National Book Critics Circle 1985."
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