Rating: 
Summary: A middling life's mid-life crisis
Review: Although Anne Tyler's fifteenth work of fiction is filled with comical scenes and farcical situations, it is one of the most melancholy--more specifically, remorseful--novels I've read. Owner of a business hosting social events out of her dilapidated if sprawling home, the widow Rebecca Davitch suddenly realizes that, in spite of her veneer of sunny happiness, her own uneventful life seems unfulfilled. She has sacrificed her days--and nights--to her late husband's aged uncle Poppy; her brother-in-law Zeb; her daughter Min Foo and stepdaughters Biddy, Patch, and NoNo (whose real names are Minerva, Bridget, Patricia, and Elinor--and all of whom are indistinguishably overassertive, unhappy, and ungrateful); and to her innumerable grandchildren.Rebecca tries to project her usual front while she ponders where her life took the wrong turn--to her "fake real life, with its tumult of drop-in relatives and party guests and repairmen." Before she married into the Davitch family, she had been an ambitious undergraduate studying history and dating Will Allenby, a demure young academic. The two of them planned to get married after college and pursue their PhDs. Instead, she met Joe Davitch at a party hosted in his home, and, although he is her senior by thirteen years and the father of three daughters, their ensuing and irreversible relationship becomes the one and only impulsive act she ever commits. While Rebecca imagines her life as it might have been, she continues grudgingly to live the life that is: babysitting her grandchildren, hosting the wedding for one of her daughters, enduring a visit from the snooty mother of her three stepdaughters, planning Poppy's 100-year birthday extravaganza. Like Rebecca herself, the book is often overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters strolling in and out of the house: only the aging Poppy, supportive Zeb, and a surly step-grandson named Peter seem to have discernible personalities, while the rest of the family takes her for granted. Emboldened by a dream, she tries to recapture her lost past and resumes her friendship with Will, only to find that she no longer is the young, serious student of thirty years ago. (Rebecca's candlelight dinner for Will at her home is one of the funniest scenes Tyler has even written.) Some of Tyler's readers fault Rebecca (and, by extension, the author) for not taking charge of life--for being so acquiescent and refusing to alter the inertia causing her dissatisfaction. But that would be a different novel featuring a different character. Throughout, I kept saying to myself "I know this woman!" and the glint of recognition is what resonates with many readers--and, perhaps, annoys others. Rebecca's pivotal journey in life is not the thirty-year adventure that blindly took her where she is, but rather the long-overdue self-exploration of how she got there.
Rating: 
Summary: A real loser of a book
Review: I've liked other Anne Tyler books. And I liked the opening line of this one--however, that was the end of my liking anything about this bore of a book. For one thing, the writing style drove me nuts. If I had to read one more sentence starting with "Oh, ...." I would have gotten sick. No one in real life says "Oh" to introduce a sentence! I found this stylistic habit annoying, contrived, and old-fashioned. Also, there was no sophistication or humor in her style, or in her subject, for that matter. Second, the main character, Rebecca, was boring, insincere, and lacking in depth. Particularly annoying was the fact that she usually said the exact opposite of what she meant, resulting in superficial small-talk. If you ran into her at a party, you'd avoid her like the plague. Third, Tyler went overboard trying to glamorize the ordinary, with the result of this book being a big snooze. I should have known from reading the reviews that a story about a family who gives parties and enjoys celebrations was going to be uninteresting, but I kept remembering Tyler's earlier works, and figured there would be something redeeming in it. I was wrong. There was something "precious" about both the writing style and the content that made me yearn for hip writing. I'll be cautious before reading another of Anne Tyler's newer books, I assure you.
Rating: 
Summary: Not too impressed...sadly
Review: I was quite disappointed in this book. To say that it went NOWHERE would be a huge understatement. It went around and around and kept including things that SHOULD have led somewhere and did not... No conclusions were drawn, no changes were made... ZIP! A portion of the book was devoted Robert E. Lee's biography...had NOTHING to do with the rest of the book. The characters were largely flat, unimaginative and difficult to muster any enthusiasm for. Don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: sweet
Review: This is a simple story beautifully told. This book is a lesson to its readers on knowing the difference between a regret and a what-if. The main character, Rebecca, in the middle of her life, in the middle of a party, in the middle of the day suddenly wonders how she became this person she became. A very simple story follows to answer this very complex question. There are second chances, considered and not taken, at long lost love. There are second chances, considered and not taken, at abandoned life paths. There are second chances, considered and not taken, at becoming the person she thought so many years ago she would become. The moral is: If, at the end of the day, you would chose the same life all over, then what you originally interpreted as a regret was really only a what-if all along.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite what I hoped for.
Review: This was a fairly enjoyable book to read. I found myself not wanting to put it down, but not because I was caught up in the story... I felt like I was desperately waiting for SOMETHING to happen the entire book, like there was a life revelation just over the horizon, and if I read a couple more pages, the whole book would suddenly be worthwhile... it would have taken very little to make this a great book, some intense climax that would make my eyes widen and my breath catch, and would change the way I look at my own life. Tyler came close several times, but just never quite got there. I found after putting the book down that I felt disappointed by the cookbook ending, and the bare-bones story that just needed some meat.
Rating:
Summary: Tyler weaves another wonderful tale
Review: Anne Tyler is one of few authors who has made a name for herself over the years but has seemingly not lost her zeal for writing. Everything she turns out is pure Wonderful, and each new book is at least as good as the last. This one is no exception. I only wish Tyler could write as fast as I can read!
Rating:
Summary: Charming, dysfunctional characters
Review: I don't know how she keeps coming up with such weird, charming, and interesting characters; Anne Tyler must have a very unusual set of friends and acquaintances. In her latest book, Tyler creates Rebecca, a middle-aged head-of-wacko-family who faces a midlife crisis by exploring what might have been - and in the process learns much more about who she really has become.
Superb, like all of Tyler's work.
Rating:
Summary: Not Tyler's Best....
Review: The charm of Anne Tyler's books is in her characters. Quirky, eccentric, confused and unassuming, her characters give us a glimpse into the lives of the incompetent. And, we sympathize with them for they are us at our weakest and at our best. In Back When We Were Grownups, Tyler's protagonist, Rebecca "Beck" Davitch, examines how she came to be who she is - the dependable grandmother at the heart of a family pulling in many directions. She slipped into a new role and a new life to follow a husband who is now dead and wound up as the permanent caretaker of the 99 year-old "Poppy", 4 adult children, numerous in-laws, and a catering business. Not at all the plans she had for herself. Unfortunately, Tyler does such a good job at illustrating the place of boredom and restless where Beck resides, that we want to leave to. There are so many more interesting characters that surround Beck that I found myself wishing that the book were about them instead. While this mediocre book does not have any gaping problems, it's not as interesting as Tyler's other works. If you're not a die-hard Anne Tyler fan, you can easily skip this and wait for Tyler's next novel to come out.
Rating:
Summary: her best book
Review: After reading all of Tyler's previous 14 books, I have no difficulty calling this one her most enjoyable. It's sad, it's funny, it's touching, and the characters are both loving and irritating, just like people in real life.My favorite description is when Rebecca notices a dreamsicle colored sunset; what a simple and vivid image. Tyler has always been a gifted and genuine writer, with a great ear for dialogue, but she tops all her other efforts here. I thought this was a fine piece of work from the first sentence, and the final party for Poppy had me both teary eyed and smiling. The awkward Peter stepson to Rebecca's only child, who finds his personality in science, was a fine bit of realistic poignancy...
Rating:
Summary: Back When We Were Grownups
Review: I really enjoyed "Back When We Were Grownups". Anne Tyler has such a way of making ordinary lives fascinating. None of her novels have a lot of twists and turns, and either you like it or you don't. Some people can appreciate the ordinary, and there are others that this would not be their best choice. Anyhow, this novel demonstrates that. It takes the ordinary, and makes it beautiful. I thought it was really good,you becomes attached to the characters and their lives, and hope for them to be happy. I would definitely recommend this book,it is another great novel from Anne Tyler.
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