The Amateur Marriage and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
Buy Used
Used - Good See details
Price: £1.54
Fulfilled by Amazon

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The Amateur Marriage
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading The Amateur Marriage on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Amateur Marriage [Paperback]

Anne Tyler (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.59 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.40 (30%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, June 7? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £4.94   -- --
Hardcover £14.44   -- --
Paperback £5.59   -- --
Audio, CD £39.95   -- --
Books Trade-In
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details.

Frequently Bought Together

The Amateur Marriage + The Accidental Tourist + Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant
Price For All Three: £16.76

Show availability and delivery details

Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (4 Sep 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099469596
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099469599
  • Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 2.1 x 19.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 110,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Anne Tyler
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Anne Tyler Page

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a harum-scarum, bright-cheeked girl who blows into Michael's family's grocery store at the outset of World War II. She appears with a bloodied brow, supported by a gaggle of girlfriends. Michael patches her up, and neither of them are ever the same. Well, not the same as they were before, but pretty much the same as everyone else. After the war, they live over the shop with Michael's mother until they've saved enough to move to the suburbs. There they remain with their three children, until the onset of the 60s, when their eldest daughter runs away to San Francisco. Their marriage survives for a while, finally crumbling in the 70s.

If this all sounds a tad generic, Tyler's case isn't helped by the characteristics she's given the two spouses. Him: repressed, censorious, quiet. Her: voluble, emotional, romantic. Mars, meet Venus. What marks this couple, though, and what makes them come alive, is their bitter, unproductive, tooth-and-nail fighting. Tyler is exploring the way that ordinary-seeming, prosperous people can survive in emotional poverty for years on end. She gets just right the tricks Michael and Pauline play on themselves in order to stay together: "How many times", Pauline asks herself, "when she was weary of dealing with Michael, had she forced herself to recall the way he'd looked that first day? The slant of his fine cheekbones, the firming of his lips as he pressed the adhesive tape in place on her forehead". Only in antogonism do Michael and Pauline find a way to express themselves. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Description

'My favourite writer, and the best line-and-length novelist in the world' Nick Hornby, Independent on Sunday
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?
See all 13 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
a superb read 27 Dec 2004
Format:Paperback
This really is a mesmerising book.

Ignore the grumpy teenager's comments below - i think they're moaning more about english lessons in general than writing a critique of the book.

This truly is a 5 star book. The gift that Anne Tyler has is in realising that life revolves on small moments and subtle changes in light and mood. There are passages that are achingly beautiful in depicting the characters and their emotions.

Life is about love & regret. This book realises that perfectly.

Anne Tyler in all her books has a talent for getting you right inside the characters, so that you enjoy the subtleties and nuances, the pain and joy of their lives.

I recommend this book whole-heartedly - it is a thing of beauty and joy and poignancy and sadness.

Then also read her other books - 'the ladder of years' is similarly superb.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I finished reading this book about 10 minutes ago and am still really tearful.

A modern saga. It's a fantastic book spanning 3 or 4 generations of the Anton family in Baltimore ... a family tree of real humanity brought into being by Michael and Pauline.

At the beginning of the book they are in their early 20s and we live through their lives and those of their children and their children's children until the two are elderly.

You never know what will happen in life, you never know what may happen as a result of decisions you make and you never really know what is right and what is wrong, what you should do and what you shouldn't.

And at the end of it all, in your final chapter, do you actually resolve anything? Have you lived life in the best way you could? I can't say any more for fear of giving the story away ... but I hope my insight adds to the main synopsis on this page ... a synopsis that doesn't really capture the main point of the book.

I have been reading Anne Tyler books since I heard that another fave author of mine Nick Hornby loves her work. This book isn't funny but Anne Tyler has the ability to really put her finger on the button sometimes ... and even cynical old me had to stop and re-read some of those classic observations of hers. And for your information, I'm an indie rock music fan in my early 30s who loves nothing better than going out for far too many beers on a Friday night ... why am I reading this kind of stuff? I hugely recommend it though. Off to get some tissues now.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Great holiday read 4 Jan 2005
Format:Paperback
I read an Anne Tyler book,A Patchwork Planet, some months ago and thought I'd try another. The Amateur Marriage was such an easy read that I had devoured it in a couple of days. Her writing flows so easily and the characters are carefully drawn through their interaction with each other rather than through long narratives. It's so easy to relate to the people in her story, how they react and how those reactions change with age and circumstances. Great book. Asked for another Anne Tyler for Christmas....
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Highly recommended
I read other reviews of this book and thank goodness I wasn't put off by those who only gave it 3 and 2 stars. It was a fabulous read. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kindle Junkie
Portrait of a marriage
I am such a fan of Anne Tyler's books that I always try to keep one or two in hand so that I have one to fall back on when I want to read something I know I can depend on. Read more
Published 2 months ago by hiljean
An everyday family's experience elevated to a good read.
The story of the marriage of Michael and Pauline, a mismatched couple if their ever was one. The main dramatic event in their marriage is the disappearance of their eldest... Read more
Published 3 months ago by LindyLouMac
The Amateur Marriage
I liked this book. It was a great page turner. Thank you. I hope to read more of her books in the future.
Published 10 months ago by sabine
this "marriage" lacks Tyler's usual sparkle and humor
This book is a slog read about a marriage that, while not abusive, is a sad mismatch stemming from a chance wartime meeting. Read more
Published 13 months ago by rob crawford
Classic Tyler
This is one of those expansive Anne Tyler novels that covers decades of time. It follows the lives of two people, and the families they create, from the start of WW2 to the turn of... Read more
Published 23 months ago by A. Butterfield
Nosy neighbours
Just finished this book - it's by first Anne Tyler book so I have nothing to compare it too.

I enjoyed it, yes, but in an uncomfortable way. Read more
Published on 9 April 2010 by R. Meyrick
How does Ann Tyler do it?
This is one of the finest books I've ever read. Reading Ann Tyler is like eating a meal in a great restaurant - you just don't want the food to end (so maybe you take smaller... Read more
Published on 20 Dec 2009 by Dr. I. Burgess
Not damning with faint praise
Michael and Pauline meet on the day after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour, and immediately fall in love. Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Excellent writing, no give away plot on the back
Brilliant, you just read the story with no pre-conceptions or expected thrills somewhere in the book. Loved it, wished it had been on my A Level list.
Published on 6 April 2009 by AllieH
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges