Rating: 
Summary: Back in the good old days
Review: Rebecca is a hard nut to crack. I couldn't tell if she was going through a midlife crisis or an identity crisis (or a menopause crisis), or missing her dead husband and yearning for the good old days. She begins by wondering how she has become a person so different from what she was before. But I never get any sense of what she was or even of what she is now, at 53. She was in college before, doing research on a Civil War general and dating Will, a rather dull, studious, and conservative boy. Then she met Joe, a man full of life, laughter, and energy, who was divorced with three daughters. She married Joe. Joe dies young, but from what I can tell, Rebecca was very happy with him. After so many years of being alone, and raising her difficult stepdaughters, Rebecca decides to call her jilted boyfriend Will. Conveniently, Will is just divorced. But now he is more dull and conservative than before, in fact, he's a full-blown obnoxious nerd. It seems that Rebecca made the correct decision not to marry him. So it seems that picking things up with Will, or finishing her college research, or nurturing her troubled, complaining stepdaughters is not going to cure Rebecca of her midlife blues. Now what? At 53, Rebecca is still plenty young enough to make a life for herself. All she has to do is figure out what she wants. This book has a curious way of not resolving anything, but maybe that was the author's intent.
Rating: 
Summary: Have You Ever Wondered What Your Life Could Have Been Like?
Review: Rebecca, known as Beck to the Davitch clan, made a sudden decision back in her college days to breakup with her studious boyfriend, Will Allenby, for a whirlwind courtship with the older Joe Davitch, an exciting grownup whose wife had left him with three small daughters. However Joe died six years into their marriage, leaving her with three stepdaughters and one of her own, all in a house constantly in need of repair. Plus, Rebecca's ninety-nine year old uncle-in-law, who lives on the top floor, is obsessed with his upcoming 100th birthday party and Rebecca's and Joe's daughter is just about to give birth to her third child from her third marriage.Now fifty-four years old, Rebecca looks back over her life with questions and self-doubts. What would her life have been like if she'd married Will? Her reflections become sort of a midlife meditation, an obsession and her family doesn't even seem to notice. Casting her mind back to her college days, she decides to look up Will. However, when she meets him, she finds that he has turned into a prematurely old fussbudget without any social graces whatsoever. What comes next, I can't tell here. Howeverm I will say that you will enjoy going where Anne Tyler will take you in this wonderful story. She is a master storyteller who writes with a style and grace that is so beautiful it almost makes you want to cry. Sophie Cacique Gaul
Rating: 
Summary: awful
Review: This book was an amazing read. The story flowed and I quickly became wrapped up in the characters. They are well defined and FUN to read about. Not cardboard cutouts. You fall for Rebecca. Even though Rebecca is older, I think every woman can look and at some time or another wonder where her own "self" went. In the end Rebecca at least finds some of herself. A definate read.
Rating:
Summary: Back when we were Anne Tyler fans
Review: This is how I picture it. Ms. Tyler is sitting at a diner in downtown Baltimore and she scribbles the opening line of her new novel, Back When We Were Grownups. She knows it's a great line, in fact, in may be one of the best opening sentences in recent memory. Nobody ever grows up to be what they thought they'd be. But then, oh then, she writes the rest of the book trying to capture the magic of the opening sentence. And it never quite explains anything. Sure there are quirky Tyler characters with equally quirky names like Poppy and NoNo. But they are not particularly interesting people and you can't ever figure out why Rebecca, the heroine, sticks around to cook, clean, babysit and entertain them. They certainly give nothing back to her. She's not quite a martyr but annoyingly close. She's not quite happy, not quite adventursome and anything would be better than looking up an old boyfriend who is a hopeless nerd. Sigh. If only there was a resolution that worked instead of self examination that leaves the reader and the poor heroine stuck in a boring book/life. Life doesn't have to be mundane chores if one chooses to see the magic in those chores. Ms. Tyler used to have characters that found something, solace, fun, challenge, within the daily grind. But this heroine only gets points for realizing life passed her by, instead of doing something about it. The only character I ever become remotely interested in was her dead husband Joe. He sounded kinda cool, someone I would like to hang out with. Not Rebecca though. After reading this book, I feel like learning to sky dive or take painting lessons or go on an Outward Bound adventure. ANYTHING is better than wringing my hands and lamenting my life. Rebecca Babe, get a haircut, lose some weight, take a risk, answer an Internet love ad, just do something. Don't let Ms. Tyler stick you in a Baltimore rowhouse waiting to babysit your next grandchild.
Rating: 
Summary: A very Believable Family
Review: This is the story about Rebecca Davitch who at 53 wonders if her life has all been in error. The narrative revloves around the large Davitch family with all the jealousy,quarrels that make up families.From the onset you are drawn into the heart of this family and will either love them or find them quite tedious.Initially you are certain you will never keep the girls seperate with their peculiar names of Biddy,Patch,NoNo and Min-Foo. They are given such depth and dimension that you quickly know them as individuals with distinct and quirky personalities.Beck's thoughts about her present and her past make her so alive that we can almost feel at one with her. The other characters: Great Uncle Poppy, Beck's small town mother,Aunt Ida and her old beau Will Allenby are so well-developed you feel you also know them personally. The various assorted children also contribute greatly to this story. The plot revolves greatly around the family gatherings and food seems to play a large part in the book.Anne Tyler has captured all the factors at play in a large family so well. It is a thoroughly delightful, enjoyable book.
Rating:
Summary: Don't overlook this quiet book; an enjoyable read
Review: This was my first Anne Tyler book. The first sentence intrigued me, so I bought the book. I first read the readers' reviews of the book and, of course, didn't see a consensus of opinions. I really didn't care 'cause I knew I was going to read it anyway. If you're used to reading action, fast-paced, suspenseful books, then this can be a bit of a turn. Ms. Tyler can write about the ordinary with flare. I would say she's the Jerry Seinfeld of writing. The premise, to those who don't know, is whether Rebecca, the main character, has actually chosen the life that she was meant to live. If we are in our 40's or above, many times we look back on our lives and can see where the path we were taking suddenly changed. It usually occurs in our 20's, but whose to say it can't happen in our 30's, 40's, or whenever. We can be constantly striving to better our lives and, in so doing, our paths can change again. At a family picnic where her incredibly wacky family are doing their usual wacky stuff, Rebecca muses on that subject. She decides to go home to see her mother (I sure wouldn't want to go home too often if she were MY mother) as well as an old boyfriend. As we get to meet this old boyfriend, I thought, "Oh my God, no. This guy is so bleak, and so lifeless, while Rebecca is too alive to be with him." Thank God she comes to her senses. The cutest character is Poppy, the elderly (nearing 100) uncle of her late husband. At his hilarious 100th birthday party (which he's frequently reminding Rebecca of throughout the book), when he's asked to give a speech, Poppy starts droning on, with great detail, on the events of the day.... what he had for breakfast, etc. Ms. Tyler moves us away from Poppy to a frustrated Rebecca who waits interminably until Poppy delivers the detailed account of his momentous day. "Where is he now?" she asks her brother-in-law. "He's eating lunch," he replies. Rebecca and the reader know we have a while to go. Don't we all have relatives like that??!! In the end, Rebecca realizes that she, indeed, is living the life she was meant to live. But Ms. Tyler doesn't really state that in so many words. The reader just knows that. At least, I knew it. Back When We Were Grownups is a quiet book, a book about everyday happenings and how the mundane can have a huge impact on us. Don't look for any stupendous finish, or escalating drama, or some unsolved mystery to occur. It's not in this book. It made me think about my own life and the exact time when the path I was moving toward changed. I know, without a doubt, that if I had followed that original path, I would have become a different person. And, incidentally, a person I would not have liked. 30 years later, I can see that. So, for me, I am definitely leading the life I was supposed to. I hope to always keep changing for the better. So to those who are hesitating to read this book, give it a try, keep an open mind and I think you'll really enjoy it. I did.
Rating: 
Summary: A slow family album
Review: Tyler is to be commended for a beautiful first sentence "rebecca davitch found she had turned into the wrong person." Sadly, I felt the movement and pace of the novel fell downhill from there. A woman facing mid-life and identity crisis, Rebecca Davitch fills her days with throwing parties, being the jolly event planner in her mid-fifties. As we discover, her jollity is but an act; the woman inside aches for a past she cannot recapture. The thought that comes to mind here is from Ecclesiastes: "Sadness may sorrow your face, but it sharpens your understanding." Rebecca has been too afraid to show her real self to anyone for years - she hides her sadness and martyrdom sets in. She finally chooses to be proactive and reignite her relationship with a past love - her safety net of sorts - only to learn that she has outgrown him too. The pacing, however, felt wrong - far too slow for a woman who looks to others for fullfilment and satisfaction rather than herself. Initial character development was a little shallow, and Rebecca seemed stereotyped into that middle-aged interfering, busy-body aunt that everyone wishes would just go away - even me! Poppy was a beautiful character, a 99 year old who loved life, and i felt we needed to see more of him and his wisdom, as he could have shed more light in terms of the real meaning of life and family. I still like Tyler, but this was too slow for me - she has done much better in previous works, such as the brilliant Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant. Worth a read, if you have the patience for such a slow plot.
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