ANNE TYLER b. 1941

Anne Tyler-was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and spent her childhood and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Then she moved with her family to Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated at nineteen from Duke University and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. Inspired by the work of Eudora Welty, Anne Tyler devotes much of her fiction to exposing the latent, unusual characteristics of outwardly ordinary people. Her novels reveal sensitive truths about the contemporary family. Many of Tyler's novels center on a woman character, but that woman is of most interest because of her role within a family unit. Few of Tyler's women determine their own destiny, free from the responsibilities of child rearing or family participation. She published her first novel, If Morning Ever Comes in 1962. Since then she has published several more novels. Her next novels grew in dimension and impact. They were A Slipping-Down Life (1970), The Clock Winder (1972), Celestial Navigation (1974), Searching for Caleb (1976), and Earthly Possessions (1977). Tyler gained widespread critical praise with her novels Morgan's Passing (1980), Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982), The Accidental Tourist (1985), Saint Maybe (1991), Ladder of Years (1995), A Patchwork Planet (1998), and Back When We Were Grownups (2001). Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons (1988) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for fiction. She is a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. She is also the author of a vast number of short stories and book reviews.

Anne Tyler displays ability to create well-developed, realistic characters and evoke an emotional response through an unsentimental portrayal of the characters' tragic lives.

The Accidental Tourist. Macon and Sarah got married when they were very young. First it was interesting to learn the art of living together. But the reader discovers that they are different. Sarah is haphazard, mercurial and unconcerned while Macon is steady and methodical. Sarah thinks crowds are exciting while Macon is homesick and house-proud. House comfort is for him a kind of panacea. Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and strangeness and anything out of the ordinary. He writes series of guidebooks "The Accidental Tourist" for people forced to travel on business to pretend they never left home. He hated to travel himself but he loved the writing. For some time they learned to ignore the differences, staying two different people, and not always even friends. They had different approaches to the upbringing of their son Ethan. When the boy was murdered at the camp they blame each other because they let him go to the camp. They become even more detached from each other and finally divorce is inevitable. Grounded by loneliness, comfort, and a somewhat odd domestic life, unwillingness of Edward - Ethan's dog - to compromise makes him turn for help to Muriel - a surprising new adventure, arriving in the form of a fuzzy-haired dog obedience trainer who promises to turn his life around and thrusts him headlong into a remarkable engagement with life. She is a persistent and strong person whom fate has slept pretty hard but who didn't give up. Muriel does everything to pull Macon out of his capsule. He again learned to believe people, to love children and enjoy life. But he is afraid of his feelings and attachment to Muriel and her son Alexander. He is older, and they also are different: Muriel is fond of traveling, Macon hates it; she is energetic, vivacious, and unpredictable while Macon remains steady. This is a beautiful love story about how one brave woman brings joy and purpose to the life of a man who has stumbled through life and finds himself sinking. Muriel is the character of a generation. She loves Macon with all her heart and she turns the accidental tourist into a happy traveler.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11