Rating: 
Summary: not Tyler's best but...
Review: this book was SUCH a relief after 'Patchwork Planet', which disappointed me so much I almost gave up on one of my favorite authors. I've read all of Anne Tyler's work, and love most of her earlier books. However, my favorite book by far was 'Ladder of Years' so I don't think that her knack for writing is fading with every book. But this book lacks the magical quality of 'Ladder' and is not as easy an escape. It seems that Tyler has fallen into a weird trend where all her characters never find relief within the pages of her books. 'Back When We Were Grownups' is yet another story of a family woman who gets no respect from her gigantic brood. In an effort to discover the self she feels she lost to her family, Rebecca (the protagonist of this story) revisits her youth, and while she doesn't find the enlightment she was seeking within her memories and rekindled friendships, she does make some startling and touching observations of herself through the pages of the book. Tyler's beautiful prose makes this a joy to read, despite the fact that there are too many characters to keep track of (4 daughters, their husbands, their children and all are featured prominently in the book!) I admit that I did put the book down after the first chapter, disgusted by Tyler's insistence on portraying all families (especially children) as indifferent and quirky. The first few pages are very difficult to get through with twenty names and characters to sort out. Rebecca's daughter's names were enough to make me want to not pick up the book again...try to keep them straight! But I persisted after a few days, and am glad I did. Not Tyler's best...but a good book. Hope you enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Anne Tyler Excels With Laugh-out-Loud Yet Poignant Story
Review: Much has been made, and deservedly so, of the excellent opening line to this novel---Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. Not since Daphne DuMaurier penned Rebecca have I read such a strong, enticing opening. Coincidentally, the heroine of this story is named Rebecca. Like many middle-aged women, she reaches a point where she wonders what happened to that intelligent, inquisitive 18-year old and how she evolved into the family planner and consoler, a grandmother who dresses like a bag lady. Anne Tyler keeps her brilliant humor with this one as she gives us quirky, slightly offbeat characters surrounded by chaos, trying to make it while sliding downhill all the time. This work is all about the choices we make and the big "What IFS." In the midst of one typically chaotic moment, while trying to cheer up an unhappy, grumbling family during a picnic, a perpetually jolly Rebecca is shocked to realize what a clean, simple life she would have led of it weren't for love. Nothing in the much-extended and offbeat Davitch family ever "flows" and it is always Rebecca at the epicenter of all crises. Apparently, she learns, you grow to love whomever you're handed whether it's a 99-year old man on his way to the hospital or a daughter who drops husband after husband, always after having given birth to a child. Tyler gives us a look into the everyday events in life that are fraught with laughter (but only to an outsider or years later in retrospect.) Her meeting with her former fiance, the dinner with his multi-pierced daughter, the 100th birthday party she hosts for her uncle-in-law, and her attempt at an elegant dinner party while two gardeners discuss their mating habits outside an open window are just some of the laugh-out-loud funny moments that fill this book. It is Rebecca's long-put-on-hold study of Robert E. Lee that leads her to the realization there are no grander motivations than family and friends and your true life is the one you end up with, whatever it may be. Rebecca finally sees herself on a family video and realizes she really had been having a wonderful time. And you will, too, as you share her middle-aged crisis with her. Happy reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing - Does Not Hold Up to Her Earlier Books!
Review: I have been a devoted Anne Tyler fan since "Breathing Lessons" and own every one of her books, however, I was most disappointed in this story. In this book, as well as her last couple of novels, she seems to have tried to become more "mainstream," her characters have lost much their delightful quirkiness, there is very little sense of humor coming through. Also, the ending was just flat. It just suddenly ends with little, if anything, learned, nothing resolved, nothing changed, leaving one to wonder why the story was told in the first place. This may sound harsh, but I can still pick up any of her earlier stories and reread it, laugh, and be absolutely amazed all over again. Unfortunatlately, "Back When We Were Grownups" does not have this strength.
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Summary: Thanks Anne
Review: Anne Tyler gives us so much more than just a good book to read. She gives us a gift in every sentence. When I finish one of her books I always want to contact her and thank her. This book is one of her best with great characters and wonderful insight. Some books we read are forgotten in a few days or weeks, but this book in not one of those. Thanks Anne, you never disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could've been half-again longer
Review: I've read all of Anne Tyler's novels save one at this point, and I liked them all to varying degrees (or I wouldn't have kept reading :^). This one is good, with some likeable and lovable characters, some good 'moments', a real sense of family that she so often conjurs up, yet... I didn't like the direction the book took in the end, although I have to give her credit for not taking the easy way out. In any case, I think it could've easily been 400 pages instead of 275, with a bigger slice of Rebecca's life than we were given.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe I'm prejudiced
Review: because I'm a woman of Beck's age with multiple daughters, but I loved this book. Even before getting it as a gift I had to laugh at the review that talked about the odd names, as though this is highly unlikely. I work for a state institution & believe me, I see much stranger names than NoNo, Poppy or Min Foo on a daily basis. I liked the way Beck looked up her old flame & was speechless when her step-daughter complained to her about the difficulty of marrying someone who has a child already & loved the concept of a baby welcoming party. My favorite AT novel remains Searching for Caleb, while my husband has never found any he prefers to Celestial Navigation & my oldest daughter stands by Earthy Possessions. This novel is a fine addition to her other titles.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Waiting For
Review: I read this book in two days and loved every word. Perhaps it is because the author and I are approximately the same age, but I always meet myself at the most unexpected moments on the pages of an Anne Tyler novel. I loved all of the zany characters and was so impressed with Rebecca's ability to keep her joy in spite of ingratitute and petty egos which she was constantly soothing. Do we ever find ourselves? Probably not. Maybe the best we can do is live the present moment and rejoice in its gifts.
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Summary: I remember when
Review: I remember back when I was a grownup. The world was a small forgetable place with hurries and no snow cones. Now I have regressed my right brain to a level which causes me less stress than before and I have this wonderful book to thank for it. Buy this book. Read this book... and you will find yourself in a different place when you are finished reading it, even if you are sitting down the whole time and not moving very much. There are many books written in America and all over the world every day. This is one of those books.
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Summary: As usual, "I Love Anne Tyler"
Review: How can anyone use names like Patch, Jeep, Poppy, NoNo, Min Foo and make it WORK!! Anne Tyler can and does. Her account of grieving, right to the "tracing his dear signature on canceld checks" is true and real. In every Anne Tyler book I come to a place within myself and am always surprised that someone else "knows this".. Thank you Anne Tyler.
Rating:
Summary: There's no one like Anne Tyler
Review: Back When We Were Grownups is a delight. I found myself laughing out loud many times; in fact, while reading (and laughing) in a restaurant, a stranger asked me what book was so amusing. I don't know how Anne Tyler can take such simple every day situations and put her unique spin on them. I just hope she keeps on doing it. Thank you, Anne Tyler, for a wonderful novel.
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