my take: I love Anne Tyler’s whacky and wonderful characters. It doesn’t matter which novel of hers you pick … they’re all slumpy or frumpy and flawed. Nobody’s really got it together. These are my peeps. Aaron, Beginner’s main character, is a gem of an example of Ms. Tyler’s deft characterization.

Bff Susan and I were on a reading/sunning/beaching/eating vacation in the Bahamas discussing and dissecting opening lines of books … which made me keenly aware of such. here’s Beginner’s:

          “The strangest thing about my wife’s return from the dead was how other people reacted.”

Love! It sets up the novel beautifully and made me want to read on. Funny, sad, true, fantastical. and I love when the cover art choice becomes apparent after you’ve read the novel as it does for this one. I can’t wait for her next book.

my source: saw on FB that it was in paper back … bought in the airport as a ‘just in case’ book – and I needed it! Ran out of reading material. Sign of an excellent vacay

my verdict: great fast read