- by Anne Tyler
If my memory is correct, this book—Tyler’s tenth—was my introduction to her work. I’ve come to learn that the combination of ordinary and absurd on display here is typical of her work. Case in point: her protagonist Macon Leary, a travel writer who despises travel. We meet him as he’s in the midst of a divorce; he and his wife are separating a year after their 12-year-old son died tragically. When he falls and breaks a leg, he and his naughty dog Edward move back into the family home with his adult siblings. When dog trainer Muriel sweeps into the picture, Macon is hopeful she’ll help Edward behave … but she ends up turning Macon’s entire life upside down. And to his great surprise, that turns out not to be entirely unwelcome.
