The Amateur Marriage
By Anne TylerFrom the inimitable Anne Tyler, a rich and compelling novel about a mismatched marriage--and its consequences, spanning three generations.
They seemed like the perfect couple--young, good-looking, made for each other. The moment Pauline, a stranger to the Polish Eastern Avenue neighborhood of Baltimore (though she lived only twenty minutes away), walked into his mother's grocery store, Michael was smitten. And in the heat of World War II fervor, they are propelled into a hasty wedding. But they never should have married.
Pauline, impulsive, impractical, tumbles hit-or-miss through life; Michael, plodding, cautious, judgmental, proceeds deliberately. While other young marrieds, equally ignorant at the start, seemed to grow more seasoned, Pauline and Michael remain amateurs. In time their foolish quarrels take their toll. Even when they find themselves, almost thirty years later, loving, instant parents to a little grandson named Pagan, whom they rescue from Haight-Ashbury, they still cannot bridge their deep-rooted differences. Flighty Pauline clings to the notion that the rifts can always be patched. To the unyielding Michael, they become unbearable.
From the sound of the cash register in the old grocery to the counterculture jargon of the sixties, from the miniskirts to the multilayered apparel of later years, Anne Tyler captures the evocative nuances of everyday life during these decades with such telling precision that every page brings smiles of recognition. Throughout, as each of the competing voices bears witness, we are drawn ever more fully into the complex entanglements of family life in thiswise, embracing, and deeply perceptive novel.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 306 pages
- English
- 1400042070
- 9781400042074
About Anne Tyler
anne tyler was born in minneapolis, minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in raleigh, north carolina. she graduated at nineteen from duke university and went on t Read More about Anne Tyler
More Books By Anne Tyler
People who bought this also bought
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding:How to Build a Product or Service Into a World-Class Brand by Al Ries
New Book
When You Don't Know What to Say : Words of Caring for All Occasions
Like New
Your Gift: An Educational, Spiritual, and Personal Resource for Hospice Volunteers
Used Book
Husbands, Wives, and Lovers: The Emotional System of the Extramarital Affair
Used Book
Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transfor : Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives
Used Book
Reader's Digest Live Longer Cookbook - 500 Delicious Recipes For Healthy Living
Used Book
The Etiquette Advantage: Socially Smart Skills For Personal Success
Used Book
ShrinkLits: Seventy of the World's Towering Classics Cut Down to Size
Used Book
As Bill Sees It : The A.A. Way of Life...Selected Writings of A.A.'s Co-Founder
Used Book
From Fallen to Forgiven: A Spiritual Journey into Wholeness and Healing
Used Book
Eat More, Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly
Used Book