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Book Summary and Reviews of The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

The Beginner's Goodbye

by Anne Tyler

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  • Apr 2012, 208 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances - in their house, on the roadway, in the market.

Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.

Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.

A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humor, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

BookBrowse Says
Anne Tyler's new novel, The Beginners Goodbye, follows (unfortunately) in the footsteps of her other recent novels. Anne Tyler's prose used to be cutting, concise, revelatory. Basically, everything she wrote before 1992: I was an automatic fan. Since then, she appears to have slipped into a kind of formulaic, vaguely "chick lit-ish" rut, and can't seem to find her way out. I know, I shouldn't say "chick lit," but sometimes it just works. The narrator of The Beginner's Goodbye is a man, but hardly - that is, he's hardly a character at all. I found his voice unconvincing, and oddly autistic in a way that it doesn't need to be. The story itself is appealing (a tree falls into Aaron and Dorothy's house, killing Dorothy, who reappears as a ghost and starts following Aaron around), but the writing is lifeless and sappy in turns, and altogether simply not very good. I miss the old Anne Tyler. I wonder what happened to her." - Morgan Macgregor

Others Say
"An uncharacteristically slight work by a major novelist." - Kirkus Reviews

"Starred Review. This is no gothic ghost story nor chronicle of a man unraveling in his grief, but rather an uplifting tale of love and forgiveness. By the end of this wonderful book, you've lived the lives and loves of these characters in the best possible way." - Publishers Weekly

"A classic Tyler novel that fans will want; with a reading group guide." - Library Journal

This information about The Beginner's Goodbye was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Dorothy T.

A different look at grieving
First of all, why do characters named Dorothy always seem to be old and dumpy? It is especially unnerving now that I am old and dumpy myself!

Ok, on to the subject. We hear so much about the stages of grief: denial, anger, sadness, acceptance--or however they go--but Anne Tyler has given us another perspective. Our widower, Aaron, learns to sort out his memories of his late wife and their relationship and finds his own way to deal with his loss. As the scripture says, the truth will set you free. I was drawn in by her opening line and then by her believable and likeable characters (yes, even dumpy Dorothy). This is a good book for Anne Tyler fans, those new to her work, and for book clubs looking for a shorter read that still holds plenty to discuss.

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Author Information

Anne Tyler Author Biography

Photo: Diana Walker

Anne Tyler's 50 Year Writing Career

In March 2013, Anne Tyler announced the title of her upcoming novel in an interview with the BBC. She also noted that she didn't want to finish another novel - not even this one. She described the book as a "sprawling family saga," which starts with the present generation and then moves back, one generation at a time. Fortunately, she realized she was only interested in three generations. Before this revelation, she figured A Spool of Blue Thread could go on long enough that she might die before its publication! That way she wouldn't have the hassle of the editing, polishing, promoting and worrying if the book was any good or not.

This sounds like the pressure of thinking up something new and original, combined with her obvious penchant for ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview

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