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Women's Fiction

ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

List Price: $25.00
Your Price: $25.00
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I put it down....and left it there.
Review: BORING!!!! I waited for something to spark my interest, to no avail. I decided not to waste my time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You may see some of yourself in this book.
Review: Macon Leary writes city guides for business travelers who hate to travel. His books feature the "American" restaurants in cities like Paris. And Macon is sure to check the flush of the toilets in hotel rooms. "Bring a novel to read on the plane," he advises his readers, "to protect yourself against chatty strangers".

His own life is organized by all the little systems he devises to minimize the drudgery of everyday existence. It gets worse when his marriage disintegrates after the senseless death of Ethan, his twelve year old son who was executed during a holdup at a fast food joint. Macon showers while agitating his dirty laundry underfoot, he sleeps between two sheets which have been sewn together so he never has to make the bed, and he feeds Edward, Ethan's dog, in the basement of his Baltimore-area home by dumping kibble down the coal chute.

Macon meets Muriel, an awkward, pushy, self-reliant young woman, when Edward is turned away from the kennel because he's taken to biting. Macon leaves the dog at Muriel's clinic and, upon his return, she announces that Edward likes her and that she can train him to not bite. Muriel uses her role as Edward's tutor to worm her way into Macon's boring, reclusive life and, as he soon finds out, she has a few scars of her own that need healing. Muriel turns out to be the best thing that has happened to Macon, and vice versa, but you want to kick Macon for not seeing it right away, when his estranged wife tries to get back into his life.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I chuckled all the way through the book.
Review: I have read several of Anne Tyler's books and this one remains my favorite. I have read it 3 times and I still find the book touching. I am not sure who Macon should have chosen in the end of the story, Sarah or Muriel, but I am glad that he grew as a person. Anne Tyler can lovingly describe the oddities in a character's personality.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: entirely enjoyable, humorous book
Review: When I was required to pick a book to read for a literary review in school, I chose to read The Accidental Tourist. Anne Tyler does a wonderful job portraying Macon Leary, a travel writer on the edge of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Muriel Pritchett, a kooky but enjoyable dog trainer needed to put happiness back into Macon's life. Although at first I did not like Macon, I soon grew to like him and the other characters quite a bit. Tyler does not use flowery language or describe for pages at a time, so there is just enough room for a vivid imagination to do its work.

I loved reading the book, and laughed all the way through it. I advise, however, that if you enjoy the book not to rent the movie. I was thoroughly disappointed by the film interpretation of such a wonderful work because I felt that so much of the depth of the characters in the book was lost to editing of the script and portrayal by the actors.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An novel of grief, love, and learning to live among people.
Review: The Accidental Tourist was the first novel written by Anne Tyler that I had read. I have since read many of her other novels, but this one remains my favorite. The characters are well-written, developed without being overexplained. Tyler allows some room for interpretation without coming off as sketchy. She allows readers to dislike her characters at first, but gradually allows the reader to piece together all the traits showing the characters to be real and honest.

Even with its upbeat(compared to some of her other novels)ending, The Accidental Tourist still has the power to elicit an emotional response to the grief and fear her characters feel. From Macon and Sarah, grieving and angry after the murder of their son, to Edward, the son's dog, who is both a a mourner, and, at times, a stand-in for the absent child, to frizzy Muriel, the characters are sympathetic, sometimes frustrating, but always appealing.

Anne Tyler is a talented writer who uses language to explain, develop, and create life and emotion. She is truly one of the most talented writers today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You'll smile throughout reading it.
Review: Tyler is AMAZING because her characters are so much alive, it's hard to imagine they are just characters in the book. I started laughing on page 2, or is it 3?! Tyler seems to know all the strange things people do for unfathomable reasons! Read it and celebrate LIFE

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You shoud not miss this book.
Review: I can't imagine now there was a time when I did not know Anne Tyler and her characters who seem so close and so warm as real, flesh-and-blood people living next door to me. Since I read many of her books, I knew I would love Accidental Tourist; but still I was not prepared to meet Macon Leary, his family and Muriel, the main people in the book. Sometimes I was about to burst crying when I was reading the book for the first time (I re-read it about 5 times at least), sometimes I could not help laughing. It is a book about a man who's life is falling apart ans who meets a woman he dislikes at first - and who changes his whole life later. This book also changed my perception of Americans who, viewed from Europe where I live, sometimes seem a little bit "no-problem" approach people. So get this book and read it. You'll love it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A funny, well written book.
Review: The Accidental Tourist is my favorite of Anne Tyler's books because it is the funniest book. Unfortunately, the humor was lost in the journey to the screen. Read the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Highly recommend
Review: I finished this book a week ago and I still can't get it out of my head. It was so sad and sometimes heartbreaking, but also one of the most uplifting books I've ever read. Every character has some flaw that makes them weird or lonely, but the search to love someone and be loved is so universal, and that is what shines through the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Listen to the George Guidall Version
Review: I just finished listening to the unabridged Recorded Books version of this book for the second time. It is narrated by George Guidall, who is one of the best narrators out there. If you are going to listen to this book on tape, I highly recommend this version. See if your library has it, or go to recordedbooks.com and rent it--it will be well worth it. He also narrates another Anne Tyler book, Saint Maybe, and does just as fabulous a job on that one. Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors, and George Guidall is one of my favorite narrators--the two together are amazing!


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