Morgan's Passing

I loved the writing and the depicture of 70s-era Baltimore but there wasn't a single character in this novel that I cared about, least of all Morgan. Much better character development in Tyler's later books.

Anne Tyler is known for her quirky characters, but Morgan goes beyond the description of quirky or even eccentric. He is clearly not satisfied with who he is as he dresses in costumes and assumes different identities at the drop of a hat -- of which he has a closetful. He happened to be at a puppet show when a doctor was needed in a hurry. Morgan, who manages a hardware store in his real life, quickly offers his services and delivers Emily's baby on the way to the hospital. This isn't a spoiler as it occurs in the opening pages. Morgan disappears when they all reach the hospital but he shows up later on the streets of Baltimore as he follows Emily wherever she happens to go. She accepts the stalking, and he ultimately becomes a family show more friend. Very strange.

Ms. Tyler delivers her usual breezy conversations and detailed descriptions of her characters' everyday lives; however, I didn't feel like I got to know the characters in this book very well because of their unpredictable behavior and shaky motivations. I found Morgan to be more creepy than charming. The ending was supposedly a happy one, at least for some of the characters. I found it improbable and sad. All in all, it was a quick read and somewhat entertaining, but it is one of my least favorite Tyler books. show less

Anne Tyler’s Morgan Passing is not my favorite but it is well written. Quirky and good and I am glad that I read it. I had bought from a used bookstore previously. I ignored the condition of the book. As I read it, the pages crumbled and I had coughing fits as a smoker had read it before me. I tossed it into the waste basket and bought another used one. No coughing fits and enjoyed the story finally.

Morgan was extremely eccentric and a little difficult to understand. He was prone to acting like he was not. He did everything on a whim. I would not read this book as your first Anne Tyler book, you might get discouraged.

It would be very difficult to discuss the main characters without giving away the story. So, I am just saying, please show more read it after you have read many of her books. The characters are very well drawn. I imagined many of the scenes in a movie. show less

i really, really like anne tyler's writing. i love how understated she is, how quirky - yet real - her characters are. that said, i didn't find the relationship that developed between morgan and emily (at the end, only) believable. the rest of his relationships seemed really real to me, especially his daughters and how they relate to him as they age. even the weird brindle worked. anne tyler works magic, i just dock it a little because of the way it went with morgan and emily, although his handling of it once it happened seemed spot on.

"This child had changed their lives past recognition, more than they had dreamed possible. You would think that someone so small could simply be fitted into a few spare crannies and the world could go on show more as usual, but it wasn't like that at all."

"An assignment had been given him. Someone's life, a small set of lives, had been placed in the palm of his hand. Maybe he would never have any more purpose than this: to accept the assignment gracefully, lovingly, and do the best he could with it."

"The phone rang on and on, first insistent, then resigned, faint and forlorn, rhyming with itself, like the chorus of a song." show less

Impressively written, but not for everyone. Tyler gives us almost no clues to the characters' inner lives except descriptions of their behaviors, which makes it difficult to stay interested in them long enough to figure out a way to appreciate them, to feel close enough to them to care.

I mean, in this one, two marriages are broken up, and in a manner seemingly almost whimsical and definitely impractical. And yet nobody seems upset or even conflicted - and the jacket comments praise the book as an heroic love story. Well, ok - in a way it is - but a reader has to be attentive to figure out how.

This novel follows an eccentric named Morgan as he bumbles through his life, putting on one costume after another, one persona after another, in an effort to discover who he really is. It’s not him but the woman who falls in love with him who discovers that, though. A quiet, entertaining read.

A children's puppet show stops rather dramatically. Morgan, a typical Tyler eccentric, though perhaps more bizarre than most, gets involved. Which would be fine, except that he then becomes obsessed and turns into a kind of benign stalker.

I didn't much like Morgan - and liked him less towards the end - and didn't find any of the other characters sympathetic either. The writing is excellent, and the book is interesting in places with some clever dialogue. But I found it quite hard to keep going, with little motivation to continue. Overall I thought it a bit sad.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/02/morgans-passing-by-anne-tyler.html