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Published Apr 2012
208 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances - in their house, on the roadway, in the market.
Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.
Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.
A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humor, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles.
BookBrowse Says
Anne Tyler's new novel, The Beginners Goodbye, follows (unfortunately) in the footsteps of her other recent novels. Anne Tyler's prose used to be cutting, concise, revelatory. Basically, everything she wrote before 1992: I was an automatic fan. Since then, she appears to have slipped into a kind of formulaic, vaguely "chick lit-ish" rut, and can't seem to find her way out. I know, I shouldn't say "chick lit," but sometimes it just works. The narrator of The Beginner's Goodbye is a man, but hardly - that is, he's hardly a character at all. I found his voice unconvincing, and oddly autistic in a way that it doesn't need to be. The story itself is appealing (a tree falls into Aaron and Dorothy's house, killing Dorothy, who reappears as a ghost and starts following Aaron around), but the writing is lifeless and sappy in turns, and altogether simply not very good. I miss the old Anne Tyler. I wonder what happened to her." - Morgan Macgregor
Others Say
"An uncharacteristically slight work by a major novelist." - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. This is no gothic ghost story nor chronicle of a man unraveling in his grief, but rather an uplifting tale of love and forgiveness. By the end of this wonderful book, you've lived the lives and loves of these characters in the best possible way." - Publishers Weekly
"A classic Tyler novel that fans will want; with a reading group guide." - Library Journal
This information about The Beginner's Goodbye was first featured
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Photo: Diana Walker
Anne Tyler's 50 Year Writing Career
In March 2013, Anne Tyler announced the title of her upcoming novel in an interview with the BBC. She also noted that she didn't want to finish another novel - not even this one. She described the book as a "sprawling family saga," which starts with the present generation and then moves back, one generation at a time. Fortunately, she realized she was only interested in three generations. Before this revelation, she figured A Spool of Blue Thread could go on long enough that she might die before its publication! That way she wouldn't have the hassle of the editing, polishing, promoting and worrying if the book was any good or not.
This sounds like the pressure of thinking up something new and original, combined with her obvious penchant for ...
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