Crazy about Anne

I just can’t be objective about Anne Tyler: I love her writing!

(Yes, yes, I know: use exclamation points sparingly. But there are exceptions. This is one.)

Initially, I was put off by the plot description of The Beginner’s Goodbye I read in reviews. I just wasn’t interested in one more book about a widow’s or widower’s grief. And the suggestion of a late spouse’s appearance, as a spirit with things to say, put me off.

But still. This was Anne Tyler. So I succumbed. And how glad I am. The novel is compact, distilling volumes of back-story, emotion, humor, and moving characterization into its 208 pages.

As is usually the case with Tyler’s stories, a family dynamic dominates. Mild-mannered, often misguided heroes learn life lessons and morph into authentic heroes by book’s end. So, a familiar pattern, but unique—as each of Tyler’s stories is. Aaron publishes a series of self-help books: The Beginner’s Guide to [insert topic of choice] (This is reminiscent of the series of travel guides in The Accidental Tourist). Aaron’s bossy older sister, who works at the publishing house, and his quirky staff form a protective cocoon around him after the bizarre death of his wife. How he breaks out of that cocoon to come to terms with the reality of his marriage is the core of this story.

You will cheer him because Tyler makes him such a decent, if flawed, character. And maybe, in so doing, we are cheering ourselves, knowing we, too, are flawed, but doing the best we can.

Read this little gem because it’s funny and wise and true.