Editors Reads Verdict
Tyler at the height of her powers — Macon Leary is one of American fiction's great portraits of protective withdrawal, and his reluctant opening to Muriel is rendered with the tact and precision that defines Tyler's best work.
What We Loved
- Macon Leary is one of American fiction's most fully realised portraits of protective withdrawal — his systems are funny and heartbreaking in equal measure
- Muriel Pritchett is Tyler's most vivid secondary character — eccentric, persistent, entirely herself
- The Leary family, with their alphabetically arranged food and dog that climbs bookshelves, is one of Tyler's great comic inventions
Minor Drawbacks
- Some readers find the novel's tone too gentle given the grief at its centre
- The resolution is tidier than life and some find the ending too comfortably earned
Key Takeaways
- → Recovery from grief is not linear and is not chosen — it happens through the specific intrusion of someone who will not accept your system
- → Macon's travel guides are a perfect metaphor for his worldview: how to minimise the surprise of being alive
- → The Leary family's elaborate systems for managing ordinary life are a comedy of human efforts to avoid feeling
| Author | Anne Tyler |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Ballantine |
| Pages | 355 |
| Published | January 1, 1985 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary Fiction |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Literary fiction readers who want a novel of grief and recovery told with warmth and formal precision, and readers of Tyler's body of work. |
Macon Leary
Macon Leary’s son Ethan was shot and killed in a fast-food restaurant by a drifter when he was twelve. His wife Sarah could not stay in a marriage where both people reminded the other of what had been lost. Macon, alone, moves back into the house where he and his siblings grew up, with his sister Rose and brothers Charles and Porter, who have never fully left.
He writes travel guides: The Accidental Tourist in France, The Accidental Tourist in Great Britain. The guides are for people who travel on business and would prefer not to — they explain where to find American-style breakfasts in Paris, how to avoid conversing with strangers, how to maintain your routine in an alien environment. They are very popular.
Muriel
Macon’s dog Edward has become unmanageable since Ethan’s death. A dog trainer named Muriel Pritchett takes the case. She is thin, brightly coloured, apparently improvised from whatever materials were available. She has a sickly son, an uncertain past, and a persistence that Macon’s systems cannot entirely resist.
The Accidental Tourist was adapted into a 1988 film with William Hurt, Geena Davis (who won an Academy Award for her role as Muriel), and Kathleen Turner. The film is faithful to the novel’s tone. The novel won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1985.
Our rating: 4.2/5 — Tyler’s most beloved novel; Macon’s recovery is one of American fiction’s most tact-fully rendered transformations.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "The Accidental Tourist" about?
Macon Leary writes travel guides for people who hate to travel — guides on how to find the familiar in the foreign, how to minimise the discomfort of being elsewhere. After his son is murdered and his wife leaves, he moves back in with his eccentric siblings and their dog. The dog trainer, Muriel Pritchett, enters his life uninvited and changes it. Tyler's most beloved novel.
Who should read "The Accidental Tourist"?
Literary fiction readers who want a novel of grief and recovery told with warmth and formal precision, and readers of Tyler's body of work.
What are the key takeaways from "The Accidental Tourist"?
Recovery from grief is not linear and is not chosen — it happens through the specific intrusion of someone who will not accept your system Macon's travel guides are a perfect metaphor for his worldview: how to minimise the surprise of being alive The Leary family's elaborate systems for managing ordinary life are a comedy of human efforts to avoid feeling
Is "The Accidental Tourist" worth reading?
Tyler at the height of her powers — Macon Leary is one of American fiction's great portraits of protective withdrawal, and his reluctant opening to Muriel is rendered with the tact and precision that defines Tyler's best work.
Ready to Read The Accidental Tourist?
Check the current price on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Prices and availability are subject to change. See Amazon for current price.
Review last updated: