Anne Tyler, Saint Maybe

Cecilia Donohue (Independent Scholar - North America)

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 1991

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Recommended Reading

It could be argued that at the time of the publication of her eleventh novel,

Saint Maybe

(1991), U.S. author Anne Tyler was at the top of her game. Immediately preceded by 1985’s

The Accidental Tourist,

winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and 1988’s Pulitzer Prize-winning

Breathing Lessons, Saint Maybe

introduced readers to the Bedloes, another family residing in Tyler’s beloved Baltimore, Maryland USA. As the Bedloes’ typical American mid-century, middle class existence is irreparably disrupted by unexpected outside influences, Tyler guides her characters through quirky plot turns that showcase her trademark themes: the presence and importance of extended family; reconciliation of said extended family, often after a period of separation; and the all-important…

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1196 words

Citation: Donohue, Cecilia. "Saint Maybe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 April 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14603, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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