What a clever writer (This is the first book I've read by her.) Insightful, thought-provoking look at characters, in their messy, growing lives. Not a lot of action, change happens gradually, slowly, reading-between-the lines. Tyler writes such good descriptions, and lets you see through the eyes of a character learning to keep living with grief. Learning to interact with the world around him. Learning to love and to care and to trust. Powerful writing. ( )

This book was my first introduction to Anne Tyler. I saw the film, and found it was based on a book, and so I sought it out. It still remains my favourite work of hers, although that's not to say I haven't enjoyed many of her other books. ( )

Oh Anne Tyler, where have you been all my life? In her best-known novel, newly separated travel writer Macon Leary's need for order is challenged when he hires shambolic trainer Muriel Pritchett to bring his errant dog into line. By turns poignant and laugh-aloud funny, The Accidental Tourist is a wonderfully entertaining meditation on the twists of fate that make us who we are.

If Tyler's other books are half as good as this one, I'll be happy. ( )

This is a wonderful book, filled with humor even though a tragic event is the turning point. It is the most Baltimorean book that I know, and anyone who has a Baltimore connection should read it. ( )

Like his brothers and sister, Macon Leary slides into a rigid and stultifying (comfortable?) familiarity, but finally wakes up and makes a decision between his difficult estranged wife and an unbalanced woman with a young son. I didn't find it very credible, but it's perceptive and the characters stay in my mind. I'm sure that Anne Tyler enjoyed writing it and it's a fine story. ( )