Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant is a funny, sad and entertaining reflection on the conflicting emotions at the heart of family life. As reluctant single mother Pearl Tull lies on her deathbed, she and her three children ruminate on their shared past, imparting wildly different versions of events. Tyler lends a depth to her characters and their thinking that makes them solid and authentic, despite their various flaws. In Tyler's fictional world, characters don't have to be lovable to be interesting. The book is a timeless study of the nature of family, love and regret. ( )

I found this a bit slow to start with but persevered beause I had read so many good reviews about it. I'm glad I did because as I got further into the book things started to come together and the jigsaw fell into place.

Very thought provoking and although nothing in particular happens Anne Tyker domonstrates how the events and actions of parents have an effect on their children and subsequently their grandchildren.

This was the first Anne Tyler book I've read and now I'm looking out for more. ( )

I read this over and over. ( )

Rating: A+

If you have not ever read this book, stop reading this review right now, go pick it up, and don't do anything else until you're done. If you're still reading this then you're either disobedient or you know how truly fabulous this novel is. Anne Tyler is an absolutely genius writer. She takes a series of events that are seemingly nothing--seriously, nothing of "consequence" really happens in this book--but you're captivated from the first chapter.

As I was reading I found myself feeling sympathy for which ever perspective was being used--she writes from Pearl, Cody, Ezra, and Jenny at different points throughout the book. When you're reading Cody you feel so badly for Cody, and (paradoxically) when you read Ezra your heart breaks for him. And it seems hard to imagine, having read any of the children's chapters, but you actually feel that Pearl (and her husband) as well are characters were rich and deep back-stories that are so complex.

At the end of the book I found myself deeply saddened, to the point of near tears (if I hadn't been at dinner with my family in Fazoli's I'd probably have let the tears spill). I just felt that these characters were all so tragic, their lives so sad, and then I realized what Tyler's teaching--everyone is tragic. No one has the perfect life. Family is very nearly all anybody has, and it makes you re-think what you think of your family and closest friends.

This book was easily, so easily, an A+ in my book. If I weren't a stickler for the grading system, I'd have given it an A++. It's really that good. ( )

Tyler has said that she felt this book was more deserving of the Pulitzer than Breathing Lessons, her winning achievement. I don't know that I'd agree (having absolutely adored Breathing Lessons), but I would say it was equally deserving. Tyler's characters are deeply flawed, but they remain sympathetic, even endearing, to the reader because they are so intensely real. In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Tyler has captured the raw essence of the family dynamic: sibling rivalry, the complicated relationships between children and their parents, the many definitions of marriage, difficult times, tender moments and the every days in between. ( )