Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons

Martin Kich (Wright State University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1988

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Breathing Lessons

is a domestic comedy with undercurrents of deep pathos. It is also a generational novel and a road novel. As in many of her other works, Tyler explores how ordinary characters are defined by and can be understood through the idiosyncrasies and eccentricities that, under certain circumstances, become transformed into compulsions.

Divided into three parts, Breathing Lessons focuses on the family and friends of Ira and Maggie Moran, a middle-aged couple. The first and third sections are told largely from Maggie’s point of view. In particular, the narrative in the first section contains many near non-sequiturs, euphemisms, somewhat odd or oddly inserted metaphors, and unusual, slightly dated diction that serve to convey Maggie’s convoluted thinking, her essentially

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1639 words

Citation: Kich, Martin. "Breathing Lessons". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14572, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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