- Library Binding
- Publisher: Bt Bound (Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0785729046
- ISBN-13: 978-0785729044
- Product Dimensions: 22.2 x 14.6 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant
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Product Description
Book Description
One of five Anne Tyler novels reissued in stunning new jackets
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
"A book that should join those few that every literate person will have to read."
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not her memory. Ever since 1944 when her husband left her, she has raised her three very different children on her own. Now grown, they have gathered together--with anger, with hope, and with a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.... --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not her memory. Ever since 1944 when her husband left her, she has raised her three very different children on her own. Now grown, they have gathered together--with anger, with hope, and with a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.... --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Pearl Tull is dying. As she slips into unconciousness she thinks about her struggle to raise her two sons, Cody and Ezra and her daughter Jenny after her husband walked out on her when they were very young. Now grown up, her children, however, see their childhood quite differently. As family events are told from their varying viewpoints, a complex story of hurt, jealousy, resentment and disappointment arises.
I have never yet read an Ann Tyler novel that disappoints and this is no exception. In her easy style she brilliantly exposes the reality beneath the outer skin. Her characters are so real, you can almost touch them. Sometimes you want to hug them; at other times you want to wring their necks!
Was Pearl a good mother? The answer, as in all Ann Tyler's novels, is yes and no. She did what she thought was best in the circumstances. And is this family any happier or more damaged than any other? The answer again is more complex than any other novel I have read. But this is not a heavy read. It is witty, funny, but above all, true. Wonderful.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A travelling salesman announces to his wife that he is not coming home. Ever. She then proceeds to raise their three children with ferocious energy, suppressing her own fading dreams in the hope that the family she creates will be the central joy in her life. Clever and unfailingly stubborn by nature, she is a fascinating character - one moment lovable and caring, the next a formidable tyrant. This book is a small epic tracing the devlopment through two generations of a troubled small town American family. Tyler's characters are alive and portrayed with remarkable sensitivity. Very moving.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a delicate loving piece of fiction. What is harder in life than to try to understand the perspective of the other people in our family? Anne Tyler gives us an intimate look at each of the family member's thoughts and from this we draw a large picture of a complex set of family relations. Where else does a family join together but the dinner table? It is a spot of joyous reunions and a catalyst for causing severe fractures, but it is a place where every person in the family ultimately returns. By placing this at the center of her tale she is able to jump of on all the character's many stories. This novel makes you reconsider the point of view of people in your family you might have given up on. Your sympathy always goes with Ezra, forever trying to hold the family together. But you also learn to see the perspective of the other members through hearing small poignant details of their lives from Pearl's apple apple apple to the devastating reunion and confrontation with the missing father at the end. Their actions aren't just quirky details, but strong philosophies by which they live and rich points of difference that cause friction in their relations. This is handled with tremendous sympathy and understanding by the author. Anyone who has had strained relations with members of their family will be able to relate to this book and be wildly entertained by its twists and turns.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Do not order from this seller!
I ordered this book because it was advertised as being in good used condition. It was anything but, the front cover and first two inside pages having been cut neatly in half,... Read more
Published 27 days ago by daveevans
A good read
I enjoyed this book I enjoy family Dramas so I found the characters interesting it was easy to read and the way the story unfolds is a little disturbing for any parent who has... Read more
Published 28 days ago by Ruby
Oh, this is a wonderful novel
and repays many readings.
I suppose this must be at least my third, after a good many years, and I was struck by what a perfect complex strucure it has, with ten different... Read more
I suppose this must be at least my third, after a good many years, and I was struck by what a perfect complex strucure it has, with ten different... Read more
Published 1 month ago by terence dooley
Sad, gentle read
Have just re-read this after nearly twenty years - I'm sure I enjoyed it the first time but it's definitely a book that improves with age (of the reader). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Reddy
Comfort food and comfort reading.....
Pearl Tull is deserted by her husband - leaving her to bring up Cody, Ezra and Jenny single-handed. At first we are admiring of this woman coping with her husband's betrayal in... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Wynne Kelly
Slow and melancholy
This is the story of a family growing up in Baltimore, centred around the matriarch, Pearl Tull. Pearl is a complicated, angry woman, possessive of her three children at the same... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Book 1981
lovely writing
Great writing & a gripping story but the characters are so damaged it's not an easy read. However, it's worth reading!
Published 18 months ago by JuinieT
Comfort Zone Reading
Anne Tyler's books are consistently splendid and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is just a delight to read. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Madeleine Godbold
Fabulous
I loved this book. I read this on holiday and couldn't put it down. Another great read by Anne Tyler.
Published 20 months ago by K. Dance
Only remembering the bad things
This novel is certainly more animated than some of her newer productions, indeed it is a sparkling, hard-to-put-down read from beginning to end. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
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