Rating: 
Summary: The Clock Winder
Review: Elizabeth is perhaps Anne Tyler's most fascintating and aggravating characters. Just when you think she is going to do one thing, she does another. The Emerson family involves her in their lives in a way that makes one almost afraid to put the book down for fear of missing something. I loved this book and highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Clock Winder Has It
Review: Even when Anne Tyler isn't in five-star mode (for my money The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, Breathing Lessons, and Ladder of Years are her five-star works) she writes with such assurance that you never worry where you're going. Many say Tyler just keeps rewriting the same characters and situations over and over. Is this so bad? What did Faulker do? Or Hemingway? Really, I would put Anne Tyler in those ranks. She doesn't write stream-of-consciousness, she doesn't write in that jabbing, simple style of Papa's, but I've never found anyone yet able to do what she does: make you laugh and then take your breath away with an epiphany to rival Joyce.
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Summary: What an eccentric family!
Review: Half-way through "The Clock Winder" I felt sad and find it kind of dark.However,after reading it, it gave me a sense of fulfilment not only because I had finished it finally but it gave me a feeling that I couldn't really describe.(I should said that mostly what I felt after a Anne's novel, that make me keep going back for more..)The Emersons is a weird ,not the average family, Mrs Emersons just lost her husband and just fired her handyman. She met Elizabeth(the main character) who soon become her handyman of the household and sort of got involve with the whole family. Mrs Emersons 7 children mostly eccentric,crazy or different gave a intriguing and exciting storyline. Founding out all of their life-stories were part of the fun of reading this novel. Elizabeth's own feeling and thoughts were complicated and she did get involved more than her even wanted. Her complex relationship with 2 of the sons added some spices to this eventful book. As usual this novel is filled with inner feeling and human relationship,love and suffering,etc... Anne did a great job to justify things and events and in the end,I felt it was a story well-told.
Rating:
Summary: when your low, read it , read it, read it:=)
Review: I red this book over and over though the
years, i read it when i am low, i read
it when i am up...there is no way in
the world to describe the feelings it
gives me, its just PURE!
Rating: 
Summary: suicide in paperback form
Review: never, ever read this book for recreational purposes. all it did for me was cure my insomnia, i read it for a lit class in college and trying to read it brought back memories of catholic grade school when the nuns would slap my hand with a ruler when i zoned out during arithmetic. the thought of being inflicted with such pain again was the only thing that kept me going.
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Summary: The Lady and the Handyman
Review: Reading an Anne Tyler novel is like settling into an easy chair to listen to an old friend. Though I've never been to Roland Park I feel like I know its old houses and narrow lanes. Mrs. Emerson, who dresses each day as if expecting ladies over for tea, is familiar too. And daffy though she is, you admire her strength in carrying on day by day.
Few writers have as much appreciation of their characters as Anne Tyler. She seems to see the good in each one of them. She pairs them together like a teacher who wants her students to learn and grow from each other. So the irritable, elderly Mrs. Emerson is naturally drawn to easy-going, young Elizabeth. Elizabeth the "handyman," that is -- a quiet woman who enjoys being a competent fixer of loose doorknobs and broken chairs.
Elizabeth wants to glide through life without affecting anyone. She won't take care of children, she says, because she does not want to have such an influence on anyone. She wants to be completely open to whatever comes along. "I accept all invitations," she says. But she finds that there are, inevitably, choices that have to be made and consequences of those choices.
As with all Anne Tyler novels, the writing is admirable, beautifully crafted. The characters are woven together to form a story that is satisfying and complete.
Rating:
Summary: A funny and satisfying read!
Review: The Clock Winder is one of Anne Tyler's funniest and most deeply felt novels. It is like an intricate puzzle that twists and turns you around - you never know where the characters will end up next. Definitely one of Tyler's best. A very satisfying read if you like her previous works or if you are just looking for a book that keeps the reader going.
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Summary: Populated by the most wonderfully quirky people!
Review: The Clock Winder, is one of Anne Tyler's best. I have fallen in love with all the quirky characters who inhabit her books. I am particularly moved by Elizabeth Abbot, in this story, who enters as a stranger on the periphery and is metamorphosed into the essential core of the Emerson family. Though each of the characters displays an array of idiosyncracies, some charming and others downright sinister, Elizabeth the "Handyman" reveals the beauty of simply being the best version of yourself on the planet! This is lovely, rich material and a delight to read. Be warned: Ms. Tyler is addictive, you will never be able to read just one of her novels!
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