A work of art

Her finest novel

A novel by Anne Tyler is a subject for rejoicing...Breathing Lessons is a pleasure

Anne Tyler has a real gift for generating tender and amazing moments

Displays her extraordinary gifts in supreme harmony: exquisite narrative clarity, faultless comic timing, and the Tyler trademark of happy-sad characters inspiring a mid-American domestic drama that somehow slips the surly bonds of the quotidian to become timeless and universal

A major achievement

Tyler has such warmth of spirit that almost any novel by her is an escapist pleasure. But this is her masterpiece - one day in the life of a fifty something couple as they journey to a funeral and have their lives laid out in front of us. The book won the Pulitzer and is as human and generous as they come

Her finest novel… A major achievement

A novel by Anne Tyler is a subject for rejoicing...Breathing Lessons is a pleasure to read

Breathing Lessons is a work of art, kindling a whole world of feeling out of such trivia as remembered popular songs from the time of one's adolescence, presenting to the reader a series of plain perceptions which seem to touch a completeness beyond themselves

Displays her extraordinary gifts in supreme harmony: exquisite narrative clarity, faultless comic timing, and the Tyler trademark of happy-sad characters inspiring a mid-American domestic drama that somehow slips the surly bonds of the quotidian to becometimeless and universal

Anne Tyler's characters are simultaneously funny and sad, heroic and pathetic and none more so than Maggie and Ira...you end up thinking you've known this family all your life

Her writing style is superb...there is humour...the dialogue both external and internal is fantastic

An arresting slice of Baltimore life

Funny, poignant and reflective

Rampaging

Knocked me out, big time... The characters are demented but also weirdly familiar; an amazing book altogether

Humour, moxie and a real love of the lingo... A riot of music, gang warfare and a hilarious patois

Bohane is a post-apocalyptic, low-tech, dog-eat-dog Irish city - and it's mesmerising. The characters' coarse language is vividly poetic, and there's a peculiar optimism about their lives that comes of living in an atmosphere of heart-stopping brutishness. A unique and fascinating book

The prose flows easily, underpinned with a wry humour that counters the harsh, modern realism

Totally awesome!

I would recommend this book in a heartbeat...young or old - it's just brilliant!

In the safe hands of none other than Mr. Steven Spielberg, this is your last chance to read the book before the movie hype drowns out the written word. A mixed up dystopian fantasy adventure novel with more nods to 80’s pop culture than even the biggest John Hughes fan will be able to handle, it’s just a whole lot of fun to read

This is one you need to read before EVERYONE knows about it!

Ultimately entertaining, enthusiastic and enjoyable. A real must-have for any collection…a beautifully constructed piece of escapism which will pull you in with such vigour that you miss your train stop.

Powerful and very timely message

This novel's great achievement is to capture the tensions and subtleties of a married life cut short… I read [it] virtually in one sitting, but that's a fairly common experience with Anne Tyler books… I didn't want it to end. Which is also a fairly common Tyler thing.

The Beginner’s Goodbye is a very funny book … every incident is at once recognizably true to life and yet somehow utterly off-kilter.

Brims with wry perceptiveness and rueful humour

Tyler's playful humour imbues this unsentimental portrait of a mismatched marriage

A cleverly observed tale of an imperfect relationship and grief

A bittersweet, utterly beguiling story of love and loss from a brilliant writer

Both compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won’t want The Beginner’s Goodbye to end

It begins with one of those sentences that impels you to read on…Tyler’s haunting tale of love and loss is intelligent, unsentimental and often wryly funny

A lovely, stylish way to write a novel about marriage

A beautifully poignant portrait of marriage, loss and grief

Exhibit[s] all the delicious readability that admirers of Tyler expect

Both compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won't want The Beginner's Goodbye to end

An emotionally satisfying book with wise and moving moments

Cline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies.