Just finished reading The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler. With each passing read, Tyler proves that she can remain loyal to her stories of the human condition while being a versatile writer covering a range of issues. In this novel, Tyler focuses on a male protagonist. Macon’s marriage has crumbled after a recent loss and he is alone to face the world for the first time in decades. Not an easy task in the best of times, but Macon’s stringent particularities and fear of the unknown makes this harder for him than most.
Macon’s is an awkward but ultimately benevolent character. For me though, it was the female characters that stole the show. Muriel, an eccentric and scattered dog trainer, runs through Macon’s life like a hurricane and changes it beyond recognition. I loved the kooky and humorous tone of this book; it’s Anne Tyler at her breeziest and most irreverent. I enjoyed this book a lot but I had my reservations too. Macon was an interesting character but perhaps not enough to carry a whole novel. And while the whole tone of the novel is more frivolous than previous works of Tyler’s, the climax felt somewhat rushed and incongruous. It may not have been like Tyler’s other more sensitive novels but this is by no means a bad thing. If anything, with The Accidental Tourist proves that Tyler can do it all: emotion, humour but above all, excellent, lasting stories.
Not not an Anne Tyler Stan page by the way, peeps. Sorry about that.
