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Anne Tyler

37 replies

Pruners · 04/06/2008 22:37

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probablyaslytherin · 04/06/2008 23:38

Yes, she's one of my favourite authors. I think I've read all of her novels, now. But don't ask me to choose which I like the best!

anorak · 05/06/2008 00:50

Yes she is very good. But I find I forget a lot of the stories a few months after I've read them.

Didn't she write 'The Accidental Tourist' - which was made into a film?

Tinker · 05/06/2008 01:42

Oh, she's fantastic. Have just read The Amateur Marriage; so poignant. She captures people perfectly. Have read loads of hers but can never remember which ones.

shubiedoo · 05/06/2008 01:54

Her latest is very good, about two families who adopt Korean children. Digging to America, I think it's called.

badgermonkey · 05/06/2008 06:55

I love her; in fact I think she's my favourite writer. I think she gets bracketed into that middle-aged-women type of writer but she's head and shoulders above other, similar writers.

My favourite is The Accidental Tourist.

Pruners · 05/06/2008 07:27

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/06/2008 08:12

I really love her writing too - I think she captures the mundane drama of family life so perfectly. Oh, I think I like Morgan's Passing best, or Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. I like all of them, although they do blur into one another after a while.

branflake81 · 05/06/2008 10:24

I LOVE Anne Tyler - I've read all of them. Breathing Lessons is the best.

ChicaLovesBranstonPickle · 05/06/2008 10:27

I also LOVE Anne Tyler. I think Accidental Tourist and Digging for America are my favourites.

love2sleep · 05/06/2008 10:51

I'm also a big fan.
I love the fact that her books are really easy to read but yet make me think about things in a new way. She has a real insight into how people think and behave.

Can any of you recommend any other authors that are similar? I need some new books but can't face anything that needs too much concentration

anorak · 05/06/2008 13:07

I think Rosalind Pilcher and Mary Wesley are fairly similar except that they are British.

MuffinMclay · 05/06/2008 13:09

Carol Shields? Margaret Atwood (not the sci-fi ones)?

RubySlippers · 05/06/2008 13:09

pruners - i am currently reading Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (we are in the same bookswap group)

it is fantastic

I also think she is similar to Anita Shreeve (same examination of relationships, and eye for detail plus great dialogue)

love2sleep · 05/06/2008 13:23

MM - totally agree with Carol Shields and Margaret Atwood. I love them too. Any more?

Anorak - I didn't get one so well with these.

love2sleep · 05/06/2008 13:25

RS - sorry missed your post. Agree with Anita Shreeve, although I liked some more than others. I was less keen on the historical ones.

jellyforbrains · 05/06/2008 13:27

I have read a few of hers - I do like her writing style. Can't remember all of the titles but yes, Digging for america was good. Am getting frustrated now actually, can remember vague plots of some I have read, but not the titles!

jingleyjen · 05/06/2008 13:30

have only read the accidental tourist but really enjoyed it

brimfull · 05/06/2008 13:34

I love Anne Tyler

Also similar vein; Margaret Forster , Mary Lawson and Alice Munro.

MuffinMclay · 05/06/2008 13:35

Margaret Forster? Not quite the same, but not wholly different...

littlerach · 05/06/2008 13:37

Margaret Forster is fantastic.

Like Anne Tyler too..
What about Anne Pratchett?
Just read Magician's Assistant and was brill.

GustWriter · 05/06/2008 17:31

OH yes I love Anne Tyler. I've read everything she's written. It helps to read some of the more recent best selling ones first I thought and then go into her back catalogue. Some of her early novels are a bit slight and wouldn't inspire me to carry on with her if that was where I had started.

anorak · 05/06/2008 19:07

How about Barbara Kingsolver? Not entirely similar but also American and handles tough issues gently like Tyler.

oregonianabroad · 05/06/2008 20:45

Love Anne Tyler. Started reading her when I was a teenager. she has such a knack for creating interesting characters.

I like Joyce Carol Oates as well as most of the others mentioned here already.

Lilymaid · 05/06/2008 20:59

I love Anne Tyler too - I think I've now read all her books so have to wait for a new one to come out. I have only read one Joyce Carol Oates book - The Falls - and hated it. Apart from Margaret Forster who is great, I would also recommend Jane Gardam.

WendyWeber · 05/06/2008 21:01

I lurve Anne Tyler, but have only recently read any M Forster - have read a couple and found them really dull and turgid, I thought about starting a thread on it ("is it me?")