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9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list!
"A novel that attests once again to Ms. Tyler's enormous gifts as a writer."
—THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Captivating . . . . Compelling . . . . There is a kind of magic at work in this novel."
—THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
In 1965, the happy Bedloe family is living an ideal, apple-pie existence in Baltimore. Then, in the blink of an eye, a single tragic event occurs that will transform their lives forever—particularly that of seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe, the youngest son, who blames himself for the sudden "accidental" death of his older brother.
Depressed and depleted, Ian is almost crushed under the weight of an unbearable, secret guilt. Then one crisp January evening, he catches sight of a window with glowing yellow neon, the CHURCH OF THE SECOND CHANCE. He enters and soon discovers that forgiveness must be earned, through a bit of sacrifice and a lot of love...
A New York Times Notable Book
Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis in 1941 but 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. Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Tyler is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Baltimore.
Tyler's work is characterized by a meticulous attention to detail, a genuine love of her characters, and a quirky sense of humor. Her public persona is characterized by its own quirks, as well. She refuses to grant face-to-face interviews. She has never publicly read from any of her books. She does not do book signings or tours. All of this has lent a certain mystique to her novels, although Tyler has said that her reluctance to become a public figure status is actually the result of simple shyness, not to mention her desire for her writing to speak for itself. Fortunately, Anne Tyler's work speaks with a clear, fully-realized voice that does not require unnecessary elucidation by the writer.
Tyler published her first novel If Morning Ever Comes in 1964, and that singular voice was already in place. This astute debut that tracks the self-realization of a young man named Ben Joe Hawkins displayed Tyler's characteristic wit and gentle eccentricity right off the bat. Harper's declared the novel "a triumph," and Tyler was on her way to creating an impressive catalog of novels chronicling the every day hopes, fears, dreams, failures, and victories of small-town Americans. Having come of age, herself, in rural North Carolina, Tyler had particular insight into the lives of her characters. Each novel was a little shimmering gem, winning her a devoted following and public accolades that more than compensated for her refusal to appear in public. Her novel Earthly Possessions, the story of a housewife who is taken hostage by a young man during a bank robbery, was released the same year she won an award for "literary excellence and promise of important work to come" from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. The book also went on to become a television movie starring Susan Sarandon and Stephen Dorff in 1999.
However, the most well-known adaptation of one of Tyler's novels arrived more than a decade earlier when The Accidental Tourist was made into an Academy Award winning film starring Geena Davis and William Hurt. Consequently, The Accidental Tourist is viewed by some as Tyler's signature novel, covering many of the writer's favorite themes: the push and pull of marriage, the appearance of a romantic eccentric, personal tragedy, and the quest to escape from the drudgery of routine. The Accidental Tourist won the National Book Critics Circle Award and hit number one on The New York Times Bestseller list.
Three years later, Tyler received the Pulitzer Prize for Breathing Lessons, which further explored themes of marriage and self-examination. Despite having won the prestigious Pulitzer, Tyler still refused to allow herself to be drawn into the spotlight. Quietly, contemplatively, she chose to continue publishing a sequence of uniformly fine novels, including Saint Maybe, Ladder of Years, and The Amateur Marriage.
Anne Tyler's novel Digging to America reexamines many of her chief obsessions, while also possibly drawing upon a personal triumph -- her marriage to Iranian psychiatrist and novelist Taghi Mohammad Modarressi -- and the tragedy of his death in 1997. Digging to America follows the relationship between two families, the Iranian Yazdans and the all-American Donaldsons, as they become closer and closer and affect each other deeper and deeper over a succession of years. Digging to America is arguably Tyler's deepest and most profound work to date. It also delivers more of her peculiar brand of humor, which will surely please her longtime fans, thrilled that she continues spinning tales with the trademark attention to character that has distinguished her stories ever since she was a little girl, whispering to herself in the dark. Tyler may have decided to remain in the dark and out of the public eye, but the stories she has to tell have shed more than their share of light on the lives of her readers.
Anonymous
Posted May 22, 2000
Anne Tyler's novel Saint Maybe was very well written. It is one of those books that I just couldn't put down and that any reader could almost always learn something from. I thought the most effective part of the story was Tyler's use of her character Ian, whom she follows through each step in his life and shows exactly how the tragedies in his life changed his outlook. Tyler made him do soul searching, and at the end of the book after showing him working through his problems, she shows his growth and the product of his effort to forgive himself for the tragedies that he endured. The children in this story were also a key part of the story, I liked them, because I felt like they were written with a lot of realistic traits. Unlike a lot of books Tyler seemed to give these children respect even though they weren't quite adults. She treated them like equals on the same level as the other characters in the novel. I also was able to relate to the beginning of the story because of the way Tyler created the picture of an apple pie All-American family. I was really drawn into Saint Maybe because all the elements of a great book were there: an interesting plot, multi dimensional characters, and an easy to relate to theme.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 16, 2002
I am a high schooler were this book was given as an assignment and I go without saying this is the best book i have read in a long time. It reads so well mixing humor and life together. It tells of a real story that can happen to anyone and of the obstacles we all face at some point in our life. If you want to read a true life book you have to read this one.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Saint Maybe; The author is Anne Tyler and she is a little quirky, not wrong but somewhat different. Her writing here reflects an extremely bright mind with the ability to take a simple premise and develop a story with depth and character.
The story opens with Ian Bledsoe, a 19 year old boy who is about ready to start college, Ian’s brother Danny who is going to get married soon to women he just met, a mother who believes everything is just wonderful, and a father who is more utilitarian than accepted as a part of the family. The writer then takes us thru the next 25 years of this family’s life and the sorrow of one man, Ian, lives in.
The book develops how people change our lives, some for the better, some with pain, but very little personal joy is conveyed to one another.
jlmMN
Posted May 27, 2012
IMHO I wouldn't spend the money to purchase this book. Even if I start a book I'll finish it hopeing it will get better. In this case it didn't
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 18, 2002
This is an extraordianary book! Anne Tyler is a great writer and I highly recommed it to other readers and other fans of this author.
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Posted September 19, 2002
Everyone should read this book at least once in their lifetime!!! Its amazing!
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Posted July 17, 2002
This is such a beautiful book, and is one of my all time favorite of Tylers' work. It is written in that same Tylers' style (funny, witty, and down to earth), and I think (this novel) has more heart than her others.
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Posted August 28, 2002
I think this book is absolutely amazing. The way Anne Tyler writes is ingeneous. She touched me with her book, and at some points I even cried. There are no words to explain what I felt while reading this.....Great work Anne!!
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Posted February 8, 2001
Ian Bedloe, angry at an irresponsible sister-in-law, mistakenly tells his brother that his wife has been unfaithful, driving the brother to a suicidal car wreck, leading to the suicide of his sister-in-law. At the Church of the Second Chance he learns that he must abandon his promising career at the university and a compliant girlfriend to undergo the penance of raising the brother's children. His salvation comes from a vigorous young woman whose profession is helping people rid their homes--and, as it turns out, lives--of junk. But he does not achieve this grace until he has secured the children in their future. We learn that we do not walk away from things.
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Posted January 13, 2009
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Posted October 30, 2008
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Posted June 10, 2012
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Posted October 25, 2008
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Posted October 28, 2008
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Posted December 16, 2009
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Posted May 9, 2012
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Overview
9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list!
"A novel that attests once again to Ms. Tyler's enormous gifts as a writer."
—THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Captivating . . . . Compelling . . . . There is a kind of magic at work in this novel."
—THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
In 1965, the happy Bedloe family is living an ideal, apple-pie existence in Baltimore. Then, in the blink of an eye, a single tragic event occurs that will transform their lives forever—particularly that of ...