Anne Tyler Books

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Anne Tyler is a Pulitzer award-winning American literary critic, short story writer, and novelist that hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Tyler has been writing for most of her adult life, having been very active in writing short stories during her college years. It was during her time in college at Duke that she started to take writing seriously, publishing her short stories in several publications such as her college’s Archive, Harpers, The Saturday Evening Post, and The New Yorker.

The author Anne Tyler was born in October 1941 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the eldest of four children, born into a Quaker family. As her parents were Quakers, they moved around for the first seven year’s of Anne’s life, eventually ending up in Celo, North Carolina. She lived there until 1952, while she was being home-schooled, as well being educated from a correspondence course. During her formative years, Tyler cites Little Women as being a big influence, having read it 22 times during her childhood years. At the age of 11, her family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where she started to gain a formal education in school. Tyler, upon completion of high school, attended Duke University, where she studied creative writing.

It was during her time at Duke that Anne Tyler had her first piece of fiction published; her short story Laura published in Archive, the literary journal of Duke, which also won her a creative writing award. Her next short story, The Saints In Caesar’s Household also won her an award, and it led to her being courted by literary agents.

It was 1964 that Anne Tyler’s first book was published, If Morning Ever Comes, which she started writing while working in the library at Duke. She followed If Morning Ever Comes with The Tin Can Tree in 1965, and she then took five years off before the publication of A Slipping-Down Life, during which time she started a family with her husband.

From 1970 onwards, Anne Tyler went back to writing full-time, and in 1988 Breathing Lessons was released, which gained her a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1989.

Some of her books have been adapted for film and television, with The Accidental Tourist, starring Genna Davis, William Hurt and Kathleen Turner being released in 1988, for which Geena Davis won Best Supporting Actress at the 1988 Academy Award.

As well as her adult fiction, Anne Tyler has also released pictures book for children including Tumble Tower, and Timothy Tugbottom Says No!, which both feature illustrations by her daughter, Mitra Modarressi.

Anne Tyler wrote her first ever-novel “If Morning Ever Comes” in 1964 while still a student at Duke College. “The Tin Can Tree” followed in 1965, before she took a hiatus until 1970. It was in the 1970s that the author started garnering more attention and recognition for her work. Starting from the 70s to the present, she has published over twenty critically acclaimed novels that have proved incredibly popular.

ANN TYLER AWARDS

Ann Tyler has won many awards throughout her career and been nominated for many more. Her novel “Morgan’s Passing” was on the shortlist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American Book Awards, and won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction. “Dinner at Homesick Restaurant” brought her closer to the ultimate recognition as it made the shortlist for the 1983 American Book Award for Fiction, the Faulkner/PEN Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Accidental Tourist won the 1986 Ambassador Book Award for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and made the shortlist for the 1986 Pulitzer Prize. It was in 1989 that she received the ultimate accolade when “Breathing Lessons” her eleventh novel won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as being voted Time Magazine’s Book of the Year.

ANN TYLER BOOKS INTO TV/MOVIES

In 1988, “The Accidental Tourist” the tenth novel by Tyler was adapted into a film starring Geena Davis and William Hurt. Her Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Breathing Lessons” was also made into a TV movie in 1994. Her 2001 novel “When We Were Grownups” and the 1991 novel “Saint Maybe” were also adapted into movies in 2004 and 1998 respectively. The adaptation of the novels into film served to enhance the visibility of Tyler’s work over the years.

BEST ANN TYLER BOOKS

With over twenty novels over her long career, Tyler is one of the top contemporary young adult novelists of this generation. Three of her most highly regarded novels are:

Breathing Lessons: The incredible Pulitzer Prize winning novel is one of Ann Tyler’s master classes. It is a moving, surprising, and entertaining tale of the pains and joys of the marriage of an ordinary American couple, Maggie and Ira Moran. Maggie is easy-going and impetuous, while Ira is patient, competent, and seemingly infallible. They have been together for nearly three decades. On a drive back home after attending the funeral of a close friend, Anne Tyler tells their story of the disappointments, and expectations in a marriage, and how children apart from being a blessing can create strife in the family or enhance the love between a couple.

The Accidental Tourist: The 1985 published novel is an entertaining take on the adventures of Macon Leary a travel writer that surprisingly hates new experiences and travel. His reluctance to travel or experience anything out of the ordinary is due to an unwillingness to give up his comfortable life, and a preference for the lonely life at home. Everything changes forever when he meets a stunning dog obedience trainer, who introduces herself as Muriel. Muriel thrusts herself into his insular life and gently nudges him into an amazing engagement with life that he never thought he would ever enjoy.

Saint Maybe: One of Ann Tyler’s best works that has been made into a movie. Set in 1965, it features the Bedloe family that lives the ultimate life of luxury in Baltimore, Maryland. But a tragic event changes their lives for good, particularly that of the youngest son Bedloe. The seventeen year old believes himself culpable in the accidental death of his sibling. Crushed and depressed for months, he walks under a cloud of secret and unbearable guilt, until he discovers something that turns his life around. Walking the streets of his hometown on a crisp winters evening he sees a glowing neon sign written CHURCH OF THE SECOND CHANCE. Entering the church, he soon finds out that he can find forgiveness and that his burden can be lifted, if he is willing to love and sacrifice without expecting anything back.

Anne Tyler FAQs

Q: What is the first book published by Anne Tyler?

A: The title of Anne Tyler’s first book If Morning Ever Comes, which was released in 1964.

Q: What book did Anne Tyler win a Pulitzer Prize for?

A: Anne Tyler won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her book Breathing Lessons, which was released in 1988.

When Does The Next Anne Tyler book come out?

Anne Tyler doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Three Days in June and was released on February, 11th 2025.

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