Anne Tyler, Earthly Possesions

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 1977

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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With her seventh published novel,

Earthly Possessions

(1977), readers are treated to an early showcase of the characterizations, themes, and motifs that would come to define Anne Tyler’s fiction and bring worldwide acclaim to her work in the coming decades.

Earthly Possessions

centers around a typical Tyler protagonist—an everyday individual based in the Baltimore, Maryland area whose quirks, qualms, and questions lead to unexpected travels and surprising life decisions that grant a second chance at defining one’s life and culminate in an extended family reconciliation.

Utilizing first-person narration, Tyler plunges into the action rapidly. Charlotte Ames Emory, making one last stop at the local bank before leaving her home, is held hostage during a bungled holdup by prison escapee

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1246 words

Citation: Donohue, Cecilia. "Earthly Possesions". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 September 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5470, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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