Anne Tyler comments about the hotel rooms, rooms where nobody "lives" and nobody really thinks about.  In this example, Tyler puts feelings into her words as well as in her other books and novels.  Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1941, she was the daughter of an industrial chemist and social worker.  She lived in a North Carolina Quaker commune before she and her family settled in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Tyler studied under American novelist Reynolds Price at Duke University in Raleigh, where she won the Anne Flexner Award for creative writing.  After her graduation from Duke, she worked in Russian studies at Columbia University.

Anne Tyler married Taghi Mohammed Mondarressi, an Iranian-born psychiatrist, in 1963.  She accompanied him to McGill University in Montreal Quebec, Canada where she wrote her first novels, If Morning Ever Comes (1964) and The Tin Can Tree (1965).

After moving to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1967, Tyler devoted her time to writing fiction and raising her two daughters.  Commenting about her private life and the way she writes her novels, Tyler observed:

"It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper.  They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from." 

Once again, Tyler puts her feelings and experience in words.  The home life played a big role in her life and in her books that center around different family situations and views of single-family members.

After her fourth novel The Clock Winder (1972), Anne Tyler won an award from the American Academy for Earthly Possessions  (1977), followed by  Searching for Caleb (1976). She observes about her concentration when she is writing a novel: 

"My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy."-

Tyler's first bestseller, The Accidental Tourist (1985), was also made into a film in 1988, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis.  In 1989 Tyler won Pulitzer for Breathing Lessons .  Among her other works are Saint Maybe (1991), Ladder of the Years (1995).

Because her novels reflect her life experiences, Ann Tyler's writings are anything but "lifeless".

II. Literary Works

If Morning Ever Comes
This novel tells about "a young man returning from Columbia to North Carolina and attempting to find his won way under family expectations."

The Clock Winder
The story of a "young woman's year off from college and the relationship she develops with the Baltimore family for whom she works."

Searching for Caleb
A story chronicling four generations of a Baltimore family while exploring the ideas of the needs of the individual brought Tyler widespread recognition.

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
This novel explores tensions inside a family seen from the perspective from each member in turn.  Absentminded Ezra, the youngest son, runs the restaurant of the title, and comes in contact with various characters seeking emotional fulfillment.

The Accidental Tourist
The story of a man who writes travel guides for those who want to "take trips without a jolt" and comes out of his shell after meeting a dog trainer and her younger son.  As is many Tyler's novels, the characters are trapped by the past and are unable to see themselves or to feel alive, but Tyler also ponders the possibility of a happy accident, which could change one's life and open new ways of personal development.

Breathing Lessons

The story of a couple coming to terms with middle age and the seeming unimportance of their lives.

III. Literary Works

If  Morning Ever Comes, 1964
The Tin Can Tree, 1965
A Slipping-Down Life, 1970
The Clock Winder, 1972
Celestial Navigation, 1974
Searching for Caleb, 1975
Earthly Possessions, 1977 - Pako
Morgan's Passing, 1980
Dinner at Homesick Restaurant, 1982
The Best American Short Stories, 1983

The Accidental Tourist, 1985 "National Book Critics" Award - film 1988,   Directed by Lawrence Kasdan

Breathing Lessons, 1988 -Pulitzer Prize
Saint Maybe, 1991
Ladder of Years, 1995

IV. Anne Tyler on the Web