The Accidental Tourist (1985)

by Anne Tyler

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
3,625	51	2,148	(3.84)	285

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Cecrow: If you're as curious as I am, you'll want to sample what Macon was reading on the plane.

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▾Member reviews

English (50) Swedish (1) All languages (51)

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Very slow for the first half. I'm glad I hung in there. It's the resolution of the story that makes this book exceptional. (

)

yhgail | Feb 20, 2019 |

It was not as good as I thought it would be based on what I had heard but it was not so bad either. It was very real life. (

)

magickislife | Nov 20, 2018 |

A nice story about a man who is very set in his ways until events take place that change his life and his outlook on it. (

)

foof2you | Aug 19, 2018 |

This story was quirky, fun, and unique - I enjoyed the book and I also enjoyed the movie ... I like "different" ... This qualifies! (

)

KPhotoWrtr2 | Sep 12, 2017 |

Macon Leary 40s writes a business travel series, but hates leaving Baltimore. After son Ethan 12 is killed, wife Sarah leaves, his cool attitude in high school is now too cold. Ethan's corgi turns vicious. Dog trainer Muriel 20s has a frizzy perm, stilettos, nonstop talk, and needy son, Alexander. Depressed Macon becomes "an entirely different person". (

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cdiemert | Jul 30, 2017 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Tyler, Anne	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Marcellino, Fred	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Work-to-work relationships

Is contained in

Anne Tyler Omnibus: The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons, Searching for Caleb by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler: The Accidental Tourist, Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler Omnibus: Breathing Lessons, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler Omnibus: The Accidental Tourist, Back When We Were Grownups, Breathing Lessons, A Ptchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Four Titles By Anne Tyler: Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, Dinner At the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler Omnibus: The Accidental Tourist, Back When We Were Grownups, A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Contains

Selected from the Accidental Tourist [Paperback] by Tyler, Anne by Anne Tyler

Has the adaptation

The Accidental Tourist (adapted ∙ Oxford Bookworms ∙ Stage 5) by Anne Tyler

The Accidental Tourist [1988 film] by Lawrence Kasdan

Is abridged in

The Accidental Tourist (abridged|Penguin Readers, level 3) by Anne Tyler

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▾Common Knowledge

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Series (with order)

Canonical title

The Accidental Tourist

Original title

The Accidental Tourist

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Maryland, USA

London, England, UK

Paris, France

Important events

Related movies

The Accidental Tourist (1988 ∙ IMDb)

Awards and honors

National Book Critics Circle Award (Fiction, 1985)

Pulitzer Prize finalist (Fiction, 1986)

New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 1985)

Ambassador Book Award (1986.1|Fiction, 1986)

Guardian 1000 (Love)

(show all 10 items)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

They were supposed to stay at the beach a week, but neither of them had the heart for it and they decided to come back early.

Quotations

I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

ISBN 8447300153 is shared.

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

RBA Narrativa Actual (31)

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0345452003, Paperback)

“POIGNANT . . . FUNNY . . . THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST IS ONE OF HER BEST. . . . [TYLER] HAS NEVER BEEN STRONGER.”
–The New York Times

Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and anything out of the ordinary. He is grounded by loneliness and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts when he meets Muriel, a deliciously peculiar dog-obedience trainer who up-ends Macon’s insular world–and thrusts him headlong into a remarkable engagement with life.

“BITTERSWEET . . . EVOCATIVE . . . It’s easy to forget this is the warm lull of fiction; you half-expect to run into her characters at the dry cleaners . . . Tyler [is] a writer of great compassion.”
–The Boston Globe

“Tyler has given us an endlessly diverting book whose strength gathers gradually to become a genuinely thrilling one.”
–Los Angeles Times

“A DELIGHT . . . A GRACEFUL COMIC NOVEL ABOUT GETTING THROUGH LIFE.”
–The Wall Street Journal

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 17:57:52 -0400)

(see all 3 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

"Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and anything out of the ordinary. He is grounded by loneliness and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts. Then he meets Muriel, a deliciously peculiar dog-obedience trainer who upends Macon's insular world--and thrusts him headlong into a remarkable engagement with life."--P. [4] of cover.… (more)

» see all 11 descriptions