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The Beginner's Goodbye

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 6,932 ratings · 1,546 reviews

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 Dor...more

Hardcover, 208 pages

Published April 3rd 2012 by Knopf (first published 2012)

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Apr 11, 2012 Gerald rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some fans complain this book is too short. So read it twice. Actually, that's not a facetious comment. The second time through, slow down. You needn't be at all concerned about what happens next. Marvel at Anne Tyler's spare style. And ask yourself why it's not the same as other authors who limit themselves to twenty-word sentences, no more than two clauses per. It should be plain-vanilla tenth-grade stuff. It should be boring and insipid. But there's something else going on here. Something gets...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Tressa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction, 2012, marriage, coping-with-death

"Anne could write about any city. She could never leave the house and write great fiction. She beautifully captures regular people who are not trying to be noticed. She writes about real life." —John Waters on his friend and fellow Baltimorean, Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler's new book, The Beginner's Goodbye, has all the ingredients of a successful Tyler book: quirky characters, family dysfunction, an introspective protagonist, a tragedy, a coping, and a rebirth. While I don't feel like this slim volume...more "Anne could write about any city. She could never leave the house and write great fiction. She beautifully captures regular people who are not trying to be noticed. She writes about real life." —John Waters on his friend and fellow Baltimorean, Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler's new book, The Beginner's Goodbye, has all the ingredients of a successful Tyler book: quirky characters, family dysfunction, an introspective protagonist, a tragedy, a coping, and a rebirth. While I don't feel like this slim volume measures up to some of Tyler's greater works—The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, Back When We Were Grownups, The Amateur Marriage, and my personal favorite, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant—it is well worth a read, as is any Tyler book.

Aaron Woolcott is 34 years old and runs his family's small publishing company. He is married to Dorothy, a practical, frumpy doctor eight years his senior whom he met when he sought a radiologist's expertise for his company's Beginner's Guide series on cancer. Aaron, who has been fussed over all his life by a doting mother and younger sister due to a crippled leg and arm resulting from a childhood disease, is smitten with Dorothy's unfussy nature, and he knows that this is the type of woman he could share a life with. But, as in any Tyler book, life does not go according to plan.

Aaron and Dorothy are married twelve years when a tree falls onto the roof of their sun porch and knocks over a big screen TV, crushing Dorothy to death. Aaron moves in with his sister while his house is being repaired. Aaron is in no hurry to return to his empty house, and because the repairs to the house are major, he stays on at his sister's and reflects on the kind of marriage he and Dorothy had. Like any memories after a loss, the good ones rise to the top, at first, but eventually Aaron is reminded of all the ways their marriage didn't work. Aaron, tall and thin, and Dorothy, stumpy and wide, never quite fit together when they hugged, just as they didn't fit as a couple.

Uncharacteristic of a Tyler book, Dorothy starts appearing unannounced to Aaron a year after her death, popping up at his elbow as he's walking down the sidewalk, or staring at the house from across the street. Their talks are brief, but much is imparted. And unlike some apparitions with the charitable goal of coming back to comfort the living, the no-nonsense Dorothy simply needs some things clarified before saying goodbye forever.(less)

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Jun 06, 2012 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: death, relationships

I almost decided I didn't want to finish it. I agreed to be part of a bookray for this book. I was a fourth of the way into the story and I wasn't interested at all. I didn't care about the characters, I realized; I'll just close the book and send the book on to the next reader.

Only there was no sending the book on. I was the last reader and the
instructions specified that the last reader was to keep the book and pass
it on as she wished.

It just didn't seem respectful to pass on a book that I didn...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Fionnuala rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hmmm. Has anyone else noticed the obsession with clothing which runs through this book? The characters are all described in terms of what they wear and their choices of clothing tend to stand in sometimes for character development. Irene, admittedly a minor character, is always stylishly dressed, leafing through fashion magazines and rushing off to catch some sale at a clothing store. That is pretty much all we are told about her. Dorothy, one of the leading characters, is defined by her total d...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Lynne Spreen rated it 5 of 5 stars

After reading some of the reviews, I felt a bit off-kilter, as if I'm seeing something that wasn't intended by the author.

Nevertheless, here's my impression: this story is about a man who, because of his physical limitations, resists closeness with other people, to the point that he marries a woman who seems certain to want the same, arm's length relationship. It's only after she dies that he begins to sense that he was wrong about that. During the grieving process, he comes to realize he's bee...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars

Middle age Aaron, who suffered with a disability and an overbearing sister, meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent doctor, and is instantly attracted to her. They marry and have a good life together until a large oak tree crashes threw the roof and kills Dorothy. Aaron is overwhelmed and somewhat lost as to what to do, and moves in with his sister. He is surrounded by friends, coworkers, a sympathetic carpenter and neighbors who try to help Aaron but he is deeply grieving. At times Aa...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

In her trademark way, Tyler takes a look at the quiet lives of ordinary people. In this case a man in his mid thirties loses his wife in a tragic freak accident. He must come to understand the love he had for her and the true reality of their relationship before he can move on.

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Jan 12, 2013 Tj rated it 1 of 5 stars

I liked the concept of the book; however when I actually started reading the book I was disappointed. The novel was too slow paced and uneventful for me to enjoy. I should have spent time watching paint dry instead of reading this book to the end. I recommend this book to readers who like enjoy reading books such as the dictionary or any other book that is pretty boring to read...

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Apr 12, 2012 Bayneeta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, fiction

Tyler is, for me, always a satisfying read. Especially liked the narrator for this one--Kirby Heybourne.

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Apr 12, 2013 Christopher Doyle rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book didn't push ANY buttons for me. I can, very broadly speaking, enjoy a book if there is any one of the following: compelling characters, interesting/exciting/eventful/novel story, beautiful writing style.
In my opinion, The Beginner's Goodbye has none of these things. The story is unremarkable and uneventful. This wouldn't be a problem if I enjoyed the characters but alas, they were all fairly 2 dimensional and actually all instantly dislikable. The only character I found vaguely likable...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Kurt Evans rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anne Tyler has one of the best writing styles I've ever read. She creates characters that are curiously very ordinary yet somehow still unique. she always manages to come up with some idea or something that catches. often I can't remember the details of her stories a few years after reading her books yet something always sticks. I read Dinner at the Homesick Cafe and really liked it, but can't remember really what it was about! Yet for some reason I remember the guy who owned the restaurant woul...more Anne Tyler has one of the best writing styles I've ever read. She creates characters that are curiously very ordinary yet somehow still unique. she always manages to come up with some idea or something that catches. often I can't remember the details of her stories a few years after reading her books yet something always sticks. I read Dinner at the Homesick Cafe and really liked it, but can't remember really what it was about! Yet for some reason I remember the guy who owned the restaurant would decide what each customer should eat when they walked in to his place. I loved the idea that you would go to a cafe where the chef decides what you should eat. in reality this would be a disaster, yet I find the concept so intriguing. this book has similar items. in this book she talks about how old men always relate their military service as the most important thing in their life even if they are quite old and the military service was years ago and they went on and did lots of other things, jobs, kids, etc.. I could relate to this since I often find myself relating back to when I worked in the oilfield (closest thing I have in my life to serving in the military) immediately after high school even though I went on to becoming an engineer and raising three kids. it got me wondering why I do that, you would think I would tend to think getting a degree, having a good job and raising a family would be higher on the list than the oil patch days yet somehow in my brain that is still where I perceive learning life's greatest lessons those few years after high school before I went back to college and became an engineer. after reading this book it made me wonder 'Why do I do that ?'. This book has another thing I find mysterious. Aaron realizes he is only probably imagining the deceased Dorothy has come back in his mind, yet when he 'talks' with her she reveals things about herself and their marriage previously unknown to him. So does this imply Dorothy somehow really did return? that would be a great book club question! i recommend Anne Tyler if you are not familiar with her. she has a great gift for prose and gets down to these tiny psychological details you will not find in other books. just don't expect any violence, weird sex scenes, drama ,perversions or anything of the like. the characters and their stories are kind of like reading about your boring neighbor or co-worker. Yet you realize that no ones life is really boring, you just don't know the details..I just finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, and I realized Anne Tyler's books are almost the exact opposite in tone and composition. rather than seeking the bizarre and perverted, she focuses on the ordinary. yet serves that ordinary up in a way you will enjoy and won't forget. one review suggested reading this short book twice. I like that. I may just re-read the story again now that I don't have to worry about the plot just to see if I can stumble on to some more tidbits of life hidden in the details. if you want action, read Clive Custler. But if you want to read something that makes you wonder about your boring neighbor or about your own life mundane experiences then you should try reading an Anne Tyler book!(less)

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Mar 02, 2013 Imelda Fagin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved the concept of this book: a deceased wife returning to visit with her husband. The main character, Aaron, doesn't seem to always know what he is doing or why. To me, he lives in a sort of fugue state. It's interesting to know more about the character then he himself does.
It's a well written and witty story. The characters are well drawn and, unlike other readers, I didn't mind the pace at all.
Here comes a spoiler so if you haven't already read the book, you might want to stop.
What I di...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Beginner's Goodbye is a real return to form for Anne Tyler. Fans of her writing will be delighted to see so many of her signature tropes dusted off and given a new lease of life. There's the socially inept protagonist, his domineering sister who secretly begins dating one of his acquaintances, the flight to the parental home in the face of trauma, the regression to childhood and the coming to terms with mistakes that cannot be undone.

In many ways this is a remodelling of the plot of one of h...more The Beginner's Goodbye is a real return to form for Anne Tyler. Fans of her writing will be delighted to see so many of her signature tropes dusted off and given a new lease of life. There's the socially inept protagonist, his domineering sister who secretly begins dating one of his acquaintances, the flight to the parental home in the face of trauma, the regression to childhood and the coming to terms with mistakes that cannot be undone.

In many ways this is a remodelling of the plot of one of her most successful titles, The Accidental Tourist. In that book a reluctant traveller who has somehow ended up writing guide books for a living is forced to accept the reality of the death of his son and the implosion of his marriage.

This time the central character is a disenchanted editor in a minor publishing house whose output is primarily vanity publishing, except for their unexpectedly successful series of Beginners Guides covering every emotional milestone from colicky baby to divorce.

Aaron, the protagonist, was left with a paralysed arm and leg by a childhood illness, and coddled by his over-protective mother as a result. So he ends up marrying Dorothy, who appears to be completely uninterested in caring for him. But the very lack of domesticity that he found so attractive at the beginning of their relationship, begins to pall over time and their marriage becomes characterised by misunderstandings and squabbles.

When a tree falls on the house and kills her, however, Aaron is overcome with grief. He rejects the sympathy and help proffered by those around him. It's in this state of lonely reproachfulness that he begins to see Dorothy again, as solid-seeming and matter of fact as any other person. If you've ever seen the film, Truly, Madly, Deeply, you'll know what to expect. In his conversations with his dead wife Aaron retraces the trajectory of their unhappy relationship.

The ending is completely sentimental and a little old-fashioned. But then Anne Tyler is a little old-fashioned. That's part of her appeal. I practically read this in one go and the pleasure it gave me was almost physical(less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Jack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As always, Anne Tyler creates a perfect mosaic out of the ordinary details of daily life. Aaron is another of Tyler's collection of small-scale people, who live ordinary if not outright drab lives. He works at his family's modest vanity-publishing business, lives in an ugly house on Rumor Road in Baltimore, and has recently lost his wife in a freak accident.

To his surprise, and somewhat to his joy, the ghost of his wife returns to him as he struggles through mourning. Her appearances are irregu...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, had I rated this book when I finished reading it (two weeks ago), it would have had two stars, maybe with a qualification that it should be a star and a half, but the rating system doesn't work that way. At the time I finished it, I was left feeling like the story was too sparse and disjointed, and too taken up with a character who I didn't really like hanging out with. The entire book felt that way, really- like I was sort of stuck on a bus with a long winded, hyper polite but hyper critica...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Nancy Rossman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anne Tyler has an admirable range of skill from literary and thought-provoking to simply a good story. This tale is a subtle exploration of loss and recovery. Not at all sappy but more introspective.

Aaron, physically challenged with a limp right arm and leg since the age of 2, although he carries no resentment over the lack of medical care that left in such a state but has not adjusted to the way others see him. "He really should use a cane, he shouldn't walk too much because of his bad leg," et...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyanne tyler fan

Anne Tyler is always & forever a fave author of mine.
She writes honestly of so many things & is more than just
the creator of Muriel Pritchett~~
In this sweet & short book, we meet Aaron, a quiet fellow who falls unexpectedly in love w/his wife Dorothy, an MD who he meets when he thinks of hiring her to help him w/his How To Book on Cancer ~instead he is taken w/her lack of interest in him & other things & her matter of fact approach to life~he attempts to sweep her off her f...more Anne Tyler is always & forever a fave author of mine.
She writes honestly of so many things & is more than just
the creator of Muriel Pritchett~~
In this sweet & short book, we meet Aaron, a quiet fellow who falls unexpectedly in love w/his wife Dorothy, an MD who he meets when he thinks of hiring her to help him w/his How To Book on Cancer ~instead he is taken w/her lack of interest in him & other things & her matter of fact approach to life~he attempts to sweep her off her feet & they marry to the surprise of his parents & his sister....
They begin a life together she is an MD & he works for the family publishing company~they specialize in "how to" books....~more of a vanity press than a publishing house.....
Suddenly she is taken from him upon her arrival home from work & it happens so quickly ~~ the kind that you hear about really happening & he has to get along w/his life by moving in w/his sister ~who lives in their old family home....his relationship w/Nandina is of course filled w/the usual uncomfortable odd tension mixed w/love & the bothers of being grown up's but still sister & brother.
After managing to get thru the odd part of the beginning of being a widower~Dorothy suddenly shows up~she is as real as as the day she died & Aaron seems to accept her presence w/out question Dorothy walks w/Aaron, talks w/Aaron & in a sense comforts him & puzzles him still....
She points out to him the things they did not do, the questions they didn't answer & the quirks of their togetherness within the marriage.............
He accepts her visits w/out question~he ~does for a moment or two question that this is actually happening & then seems to accept that they in fact are & did ..
I don't want to write too much of the story ~so~ as not to give it away.......but the sweet smoothness of the way the characters in this book are written, will speak to those of us who notice ~the things that make our people unique.
By our people~~ I mean our friends ~our family~ the people we work with~who at times are close to us each day~not unlike our family once was when we were becoming who we finally are~~~~~
Ms Tyler always seems to be able to celebrate the simple things that we ~in fact~ notice but then accept as being a part of what makes our people our very own ..
for example when she points out Peggy & her need for ruffles & lace & her cooking & her ability to "make an effort" as she terms it ~~
This doesn't seem so unusual since Aaron has known her since grade school~you realize you know a Peggy in your own world ~that someone w/some type of necessary ruffle~~> just like the one Peggy doffs.
For a few selfish days~ I recommend this Anne Tyler read to escape into
Her books make you realize ~how honest & real~ her people
(read characters) really are...........
I completely & totally enjoyed The Beginners Goodbye.........
FIVE STARS FIVE STARS FIVE STARS The Beginner's Goodbye (less)

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Jan 05, 2013 Claudia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Forse mi aspettavo qualcosa di diverso, di più vero e intenso, ma il libro che ho letto sembra sia stato scritto solo per poter dire “OK, fatto”.

Volendo comunque trovare una morale o uno spunto di riflessione, devo dire che sono d’accordo con l’autrice sul fatto che purtroppo nei momenti difficili e penosi della vita, volendosi magari rifugiare nella lettura per sfuggire alla realtà, ecco, proprio in quei momenti non riesci a farlo. Cioè non riesci a concentrarti realmente su un libro proprio pe...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Patty rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, baltimore, fiction, family, women-writers, contemporary-fiction, american-literature, death, death-and-dying, accident, marriage, brothers-and-sisters, books-and-publishing, grief

I have been tracking my books for five years. I have always liked Anne Tyler, but have not picked up anything by her in all that time. I am so glad to have fixed that. Not only did I read an excellent book by Tyler, but I finally downloaded a book from OverDrive and read the whole thing. Since my library has added OverDrive, I have downloaded a number of titles, but mostly for the practice.

Tyler's novels are quiet stories about average people, who the reader wouldn't notice except for Tyler's at...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anne Tyler’s latest novel, The Beginner’s Goodbye, explores one man’s journey through grief, from the early days of numbness, despair and disconnection from everything around him, to his slow reconnection with the world and other people. Aaron is changed by his journey – he emerges more self-aware, more appreciative of the beauty around him and the small pleasures of everyday life, and able to build newer, richer relationships that perhaps would not have been possible before.

The Beginner’s Good...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Chris Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anne Tyler's 19th novel, The Beginner's Goodbye, is about holding on and letting go. Aaron Woolcott and his wife, Dorothy, have a typical marriage, with ups and downs, love and pain, and unspoken grudges. One day, after a minor spat, a tree topples over on the sun room of their home, killing Dorothy.

Set in Baltimore, where many of her novels take place, the story centers on the months following Dorothy's death. After 11 years of marriage, Aaron cannot let go. He doggedly goes about his business,...more Anne Tyler's 19th novel, The Beginner's Goodbye, is about holding on and letting go. Aaron Woolcott and his wife, Dorothy, have a typical marriage, with ups and downs, love and pain, and unspoken grudges. One day, after a minor spat, a tree topples over on the sun room of their home, killing Dorothy.

Set in Baltimore, where many of her novels take place, the story centers on the months following Dorothy's death. After 11 years of marriage, Aaron cannot let go. He doggedly goes about his business, rejecting the sympathies and kindness extended by friends, until one day Dorothy's ghost appears. In the hands of a lesser writer, this device might seem like a cheap ploy. Tyler uses the ghost of Dorothy to delve into the unresolved issues that haunt Aaron. Through his unexpected meetings with Dorothy, Aaron probes the small hurts that festered during their marriage as he yearns for resolution.

Aaron is a sympathetic main character. He is an unremarkable every-man, who has a crippled arm and leg and speaks with an occasional stutter. He was initially attracted to Dorothy, a doctor, because she took no notice of his handicap.

Although this is one of Tyler's shortest books, at roughly 200 pages, it has a lot to say about love, marriage, and the fragility of intimate relationships. When his marriage is cut short, Aaron struggles to find normalcy in his life. He drags his feet on repairing his home until his take-charge sister, Nandina (a sharply drawn character) nudges him into action. His friends try to cheer him up. There is one hilarious scene where two of his male friends invite him to a restaurant for dinner and spend the entire evening not talking about their wives because they don't want to bring up the memory of Aaron's loss.

Tyler finds the most interesting occupations for her main characters. In this case, Aaron works in the family business, a boutique publishing company in which the authors pay to have their work published. This is perhaps a wry observation and commentary by Tyler of the current state of the publishing industry. The publishing house's speciality are "how to" books called "The Beginners" series, which explains the title of the novel. In one scene, Aaron struggles as he slogs through a deadly memoir of an old man's experiences in World War II in which the writer described every boring detail of his life as a soldier, and none of the terror of war.

This story ultimately is about love, loss, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Like all of Tyler's work, The Beginner's Goodbye is a masterfully prepared and satisfying entre, spiced with quirky, loveable characters.
(less)

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Sep 04, 2012 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

After Aaron’s wife is killed when a tree falls on their house, he moves back in with his sister in the house in which they grew up together and distracts himself from his grief by focusing on the family business (a vanity press house that is known for a “beginner's” series of how-to books). His deceased wife starts appearing to him, sometimes just being near him and other times talking to him – not a “vision” or ghost-like, but real enough that others occasionally see her, too. For a man whose c...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 5 of 5 stars

In The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler, Aaron, a 36-year-old editor for his family owned small vanity press in Baltimore, loses his wife in a tragic accident that almost destroys their home. Aaron, who has a crippled right arm and leg, ends up moving in with his overprotective sister while the house is being repaired. After some time passes, he begins to experience visits from his dead wife, Dorothy.

Through the visits from Dorothy, Aaron reflects on their life together and the difficulties they...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Deyanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

This book caught me off guard. I experienced one of those moments when I was so inextricably caught up in the story and emotional journey of the characters that I found myself half way through the book feeling like I had just been reading for minutes. Ann Tyler has a gift. Her skills are so fine tuned that I just "let go" and allowed her mastery to lead me. This book is filled with magically captured "moments". I saw and I felt in this novel and it reinforces yet again for me the importance of "...more This book caught me off guard. I experienced one of those moments when I was so inextricably caught up in the story and emotional journey of the characters that I found myself half way through the book feeling like I had just been reading for minutes. Ann Tyler has a gift. Her skills are so fine tuned that I just "let go" and allowed her mastery to lead me. This book is filled with magically captured "moments". I saw and I felt in this novel and it reinforces yet again for me the importance of "small things".

I savored the writing style. For example, "I moved toward her as cautiously as if she were some skittish woodland animal. My feet made no sound at all. And when I reached her, I didn't speak. I turned toward the beets myself and selected a bunch of my own. We were standing side by side, so close that even a breath caused our sleeves to whisper together. I could feel the warmth that her skin gave off through the cotton. It warmed my very soul. I can't describe the comfort I felt. I wanted to stand there forever. There was nothing more I could have asked for." This describes the main character's feelings as he sees his dead wife at a farmer's market. When I read this I think, well, out of context I may seem deranged. This touched me because I think many people would love an opportunity to spend just quiet time with a deceased love one again.

One reviewer, M.L. Asselin, stated, "Anne Tyler's prose is wonderfully astringent, deceptively effortless, and truly affecting. She's just a really good storyteller. The interpersonal interactions ring true, and the little observations sing, such as when Aaron's sister and her new beau are walking side-by-side and Aaron notes, "They were almost touching but not quite; there was perhaps an inch or two of empty space between them, and you could tell somehow that both of them were very conscious of this space--acutely conscious, *electrically* conscious." Simply one nearly frozen moment, perfectly rendered.

This was a good read. Yes, it captured one person's experience with grief, but it captured more than that. It captured marriage and life, loss and love and give-and-take insights. This would be a good book group choice.(less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Karen Alexander rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne Tyler has been a favorite of mine since I read Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant in the early 80s. An aunt I adored gave it to me and told me I would love it. She said Tyler's characters were as wacky as some of our relatives.
I did love it and over the past 25 years I've read most all her books. I find her quirky characters with their sometimes bizarre and unexpected behaviors very endearing and ( dare I admit it ?) sometimes strangely familiar.
That said, I couldn't wait to pick up her l...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Ellen O'brien rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really liked this little book! When I finished it, I realized that perhaps I needed to tell my husband how much I appreciated him - however, he was snoring and I didn't have the heart to wake him. In the morning, I told him all about the book and how sad it was that some people get married and let their expectations about marriage leave them disappointed about what they have - so much so that they can't see what they have until it is gone and they have the space to think. I do not want the spa...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Ann Spivack rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anne Tyler walks on water as far as I'm concerned. Before this book I read "Portraits of a Marriage," by Sandor Marai and was intensely frustrated by how in 372 pages (372 slow, tedious, joyless pages), Marai gave us a flawed view of a marriage that was hopeless and almost impersonal.
Then I got to read this (thank you universe), and got to marvel, once more, at Tyler's way of bringing a person and a relationship to life in so few words. She carries us on a journey where we live inside the char...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Sharonm rated it 4 of 5 stars

In her typical acutely observed yet humorous manner, Tyler tells the story of Aaron's grief and eventual acceptance of his wife's, Dorothy's, death. When a tree falls on his house, killing Dorothy and demolishing his house in one fell swoop, Aaron responds as a Tyler character often does, in a very idiosyncratic manner. As his house is slowly restored and even improved upon, so is his life. Throughout the process, he sees and talks with Dorothy, reflecting on their marriage. Tyler leaves the que...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Tyler is my absolute favorite author, and all of the things I love about her novels is here: straightforward prose with pitch perfect figurative language when she uses it, a quirky protagonist, an ensemble cast of other quirky characters themselves so deftly developed that each stands out as his or her own person although some play minimal roles, (my favorite of which was Gil), and a conflict that uses two parts realism and one part 'what if.' In such a thin volume, Tyler examines the human hear...more

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Jul 01, 2012 MN rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book is narrated by one my favourite kind of Anne Tyler's characters - and it doesn't matter at all how similar Aaron is to Macon Leary, or Aaron's sister is to Rose, or indeed that there are many more similarities between this book and _The Accidental Tourist-. It's written in first person, unlike _The Accidental Tourist_; it's impressively sheer as a result, but despite the economy of a first person perspective, her characterisation remains characteristically rich.

It's a delight to read,...more

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About Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated at nineteen from Duke University and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. The Beginner's Goodbye is Anne Tyler's nineteenth novel; her eleventh, Breathing Lessons , was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and...more

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Quotes from The Beginner's Goodbye

“People who hadn't suffered a loss yet struck me as not quite grown up.” — 6 people liked it

“It’s like the grief has been covered over with some kind of blanket. It’s still there, but the sharpest edges are .. muffled, sort of. Then, ever now and then, I lift the corner of the blanket just to check, and .. whoa! Like a knife! I’m not sure that will ever change.” — 6 people liked it

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