The Accidental Tourist
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Anne Tyler |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fiction |
| Publisher | Knopf |
| Released | August 12, 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 355 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 039454689X |
- This article is about the book. For the film adaptation, see The Accidental Tourist.
The Accidental Tourist is a 1985 novel by Anne Tyler that won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.
Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the plot revolves around Macon Leary, a writer of travel guides whose son has been killed in a senseless shooting at a fast-food restaurant. He and his wife Sarah, separately lost in grief, find their marriage disintegrating, until she eventually moves out. When he becomes incapacitated due to a fall, he returns to the family home to stay with his eccentric siblings - sister Rose and brothers Porter and Charles - whose odd habits include alphabetizing the groceries in the kitchen cabinets and ignoring the ringing telephone. When his publisher Julian comes to visit, he finds himself attracted to Rose.
Macon hires Muriel Pritchett, a quirky young woman with a sickly son, to train his unruly dog, and soon finds himself drifting into a relationship with the two of them. When his wife becomes aware of the situation, she decides they should reconcile, forcing him to make a difficult decision about his future.
The novel was adapted for a 1988 award-winning film starring William Hurt and Geena Davis.
