Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing at best
Review: Based on several reviews and, I must admit, a great first line ("Once upon a time, a woman woke up...") I purchased this book. Unfortunately, I found this book to be very disappointing. The story line itself seemed like it would be interesting, but I never developed a real sense of compassion or interest in Rebecca Davitich (the lead character). To be honest, I didn't really care what happened to her, or her funky family. A lot of reviews mentioned how Anne Tyler characters often resemble people they know in real life. I'm sure I know some "Anne Tyler characters", too, but I wouldn't care to read a novel about them. To be fair, the prose is beautiful. It is a beautifully written book, but not that interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: A "Jane Awful" Book
Review: When I started reading this book, my husband looked at me and said "Are you reading another Jane Awful book?" I said that this was an Anne Tyler novel, so it should be very, very good. Well, I have to agree with him that this is a "Jane Awful" book. It is a novel filled with egocentric, short-sighted characters who all have a bleak outlook on life. Why would anyone in their right mind want to read a book about bad choices, bad situations, and bad feelings? There are absolutely no redeeming qualities of this book. My favorite character of the book, Uncle Poppy, whom I believe Tyler wants to serve as the omniscient old sage, is a babbling buffoon. The book would have been a lot less of a burden if in the first chapter Uncle Poppy would have just said what the whole book's message is: "You live, you die."
To put it in a nutshell, there are a lot of easy answers as to how this novel should have been. Rebecca and Will should have stayed together because both of them are so sorry that they would have been good therapy for each other. The Will and Rebecca story should have just been deleted from the whole plot. It's pathetic and useless. All I can say is: poor Will.
Probably the best developed characters were the kids. Each one had a unique quality about them, and real human interaction occured between them. They aren't that different from a lot of the families I know. They appear to be real people with real problems. There is not much more to say about this novel other than I wish I would have waited until the paperback version came out. This novel is not worth the [money] I spent on it.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful trip by a knowing tour guide
Review: Anne Tyler's newest book is wonderful. While some may say she is light on plot, no one does character like Tyler. You know these people, all of them, and love them, with all of their foibles and faults. I would love to go to one of Beck's parties.
Our family of four listened to the audio book together and we all loved it--12 1/2, almost 16 (both boys) and two forty-something grown-ups.
Blair Brown's reading is perfection. Absolute perfection.
Rating: 
Summary: Vintage Anne Tyler
Review: Anyone who has enjoyed reading Ms. Tyler's previously published novels will not be disappointed with this one. She is still able to conjure up a seemingly endless supply of characters that although somewhat "quirky" and off center nevertheless seem real and not totally unlike some people you may know. I grew up in Baltimore so for me her novels always evoke a sense of nostalgia that most readers may not experience. The ending seemed a bit abrupt, but that might be because I was so invested in the characters that I simply did not want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: SO-so storyline
Review: This was one of the most boring books I've bought to read. I like books with more bite and awe to the story. I can't get interested in a story of a 50something woman who's wondering what happened to the girl of her youth; and also wondering what her life would be like if she chose the other road in her journey through life. She's not unhappy, she's just curious. She loves her family, she lives in a house that belonged to her in-laws and she works at a career that makes her be a person that she really isn't deep down inside................Well, heck....................That book's main character sounds like me......and my enjoyment of reading is the escape from reality it affords me while sitting in my Broyhill with my 2 chihuahuas curled up on my lap, my favorite CD playing. The book has excellent writing and cute storylines, but not for me. Give me some kind of wierdness or dysfunction laced through my reading.
Rating:
Summary: A life with no spirit
Review: The main character Rebecca has no soul. Sure she comes to a realization that her life did not end up as she planned. The beautiful, intellectual, brooding young woman she once was has turned into a dowdy, cheerful, grandma's grandma. What happened to her life, her goals, and her dreams? Did she ever want more from life than just accepting what was offered to her? Thus Rebecca embarks upon a journey we would all like to do sometimes-attempt to rewrite history. She contacts her old college beau, she signs up for classes she's always wanted to take, she buys books she's always wanted to read. But what happens? She falls flat. She resigns herself to the life she has even if it isn't perfect. Yes, the characters such as her stepdaughter No No or daughter Min Foo and grandchildren like Peter are delightful, but why should one be resigned to continue to let others call you Beck if you hate the nickname? The triumph of Rebecca's spirit is not present here, because sometimes you must leave all that is comfortable to you in order to grow.
Rating:
Summary: Where was the story?
Review: This novel began well enough. An interesting, imperfect main character with grown, adult children, and grandchildren. The story sounded like it could be captivating, except it never quite came to be. It rolled along pleasantly, but it didn't involve me enough to care. My suggestion is to pick something else!
Rating:
Summary: The Wacky World of Anne Tyler
Review: "Back When We Were Grownups" is Anne Tyler's best book since "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant." As in all of Tyler's work, this novel is populated with eccentric people who intermingle intenselfy in each other's lives. The overall atmosphere of the book is a genial acceptance of individual quirkiness, a love of humanity rendered with humor and grace.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Tyler Let-Down
Review: I have always liked Anne Tyler (my favorite Tyler book: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant). But this book was a huge LET-DOWN. The middle-aged woman in the book is not the least bit interesting. We don't care about her or all of her family members (and believe me, there are alot of family members. All of them have weird names, and none of the characters are developed enough that we can remember which is the daughter, which the daughter-in-law, etc.). Quite simply, the characters fail in this book. Nothing much happens except an old boyfriend from decades before her marriage shows up. The middle-aged woman spends some boring evenings with him and then decides she doesn't want to be with him anymore. And I guess she comes to some kind of quiet realization that she's content with the life she leads with this eccentric family. That's it in a nutshell. NOT worth the $... I spent... on this one!
Rating:
Summary: Pure Anne
Review: I have been a fan of Anne Tyler since her first book was published. I have never been disappointed in her books and have even discovered "Anne Tyler" people in my life. Her descriptions and word pictures draw me right into the book and I'm stuck there until the book is finished.......even when it's 3 o'clock in the morning. I read each book at least twice.....put it away for a while and go back....."Back When We Were Grownups" is no exception. My only complaint is that Ms. Tyler can't write any faster!
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