The Accidental Tourist

THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
by Anne Tyler

 Awards: National Book Critics Circle Winner 1985

Nomination: LA Times Finalist 1986, Pulitzer Finalist 1986

 Date Read: December 30, 2019

 The Accidental Tourist is the kind of novel I absolutely love because it reveals a character that is stuck in his unique way and through the course of his life and circumstance is forced to change. Macon and Sarah have tragically lost their son, Ethan, and they are fumbling through their lives, going through the motions but are not really living. 

 After separating, Macon goes through the routines of living, creating ever narrower ways of interacting with the world and daily chores, that his life has become so small, he hardly recognizes it himself. Breaking his leg sets off a chain reaction that unleashes a waterfall of opportunities to grow and expand his world.

 Enter Muriel, a hot mess of a woman with a sickly son and a mouth that never seems to stop speaking. She is entirely wrong, yet entirely right for Macon at this juncture of his life. Her very existence challenges him to adapt and grow, albeit through constant protest. I admire Muriel's tenacity and ability to be positive even in the most dire of circumstances.

 Throughout, I was honestly rooting for Macon and Sarah to reunite but after this fantasy was explored, I found it suffocating, unchallenging and mundane. After Macon has dated and lived with Muriel and her son for almost a year, he and Sarah do briefly reunite. She treats him with ambivalence and, often, disdain. I was terrified Macon hadn't learned a thing over the past year and would accept this for the remainder of his life but was pleasantly surprised. 

 Each character is so vividly drawn and the subtlety of the world Tyler has crafted here leaves me in awe. I truly admire her talents and welcome her additional works on my list.

 Looking Forward: The Beginner's Goodbye, Breathing Lessons, Clock Dance, Digging To America, Ladder Of Years, Morgan's Passing, Redhead By The Side Of The Road, A Spool Of Blue Thread

 Looking Back: Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant

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