LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning author, a sparkling novel about misperception, second chances, and the sometimes elusive power of human connection.Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit. A self-employed tech expert, superintendent of his Baltimore apartment building, cautious to a fault behind the steering wheel, he seems … behind the steering wheel, he seems content leading a steady, circumscribed life.
But one day his routines are blown apart when his woman friend (he refuses to call anyone in her late thirties a “girlfriend”) tells him she’s facing eviction, and a teenager shows up at Micah’s door claiming to be his son. These surprises, and the ways they throw Micah’s meticulously organized life off-kilter, risk changing him forever.
An intimate look into the heart and mind of a man who finds those around him just out of reach, and a funny, joyful, deeply compassionate story about seeing the world through new eyes, Redhead by the Side of the Road is a triumph, filled with Anne Tyler’s signature wit and gimlet-eyed observation.
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I love everything by this author!
5 stars, really enjoyed this short book. Characters were unusual, book had a good pace. The story was so subtle, but when I finished it, it was satisfyingly complex and a good study of how our choices and misunderstandings of events in our lives shape us.
Will always be an Anne Tyler fan.
I used to read Anne Tyler and enjoyed her style of writing. Her characters reminded me of Eudora Welty’s characters and I loved them. The Anne Tyler books I’ve read are long on character development: so much so you feel you know the person well enough to predict what he’ll say next. In those same books the timeline is very short and that gave me the feeling that I was learning about the character in real time as if we were having coffee together and he was telling me what was going on in his life. It’s more like making a real friend than any other technique I have read.
This is the story of a man who leads a simple life. His girlfriend breaks up with him and he wonders about all the women he’s dated and why all of them broke up with him. His soul searching has a lesson and well, I don’t want to ruin the ending for you. Suffice to say you will enjoy this book. Of that I am certain.
In her latest novel, Anne Tyler takes on bachelor life. It’s a peaceful kind of independence, and Micah Mortimer seems content to follow his fussy routine until the day a young man named Brink shows up on his doorstep, claiming to be his son.
Micah lives in the basement of an apartment building where he serves as handyman and makes extra money as an on-call computer technician. He treasures his routine of beginning each day with a run, followed by a leisurely breakfast and attention to various household chores, depending on what weekday it is. His only steady relationship is Cass Slade, a schoolteacher he’s been seeing for several years. An unexpected breakup, combined with Brink’s invasion of his life, forces Micah to reconsider the choices he’s made.
Like all Tyler’s work, this story is about ordinary people with ordinary problems. What makes it special is Tyler’s gift for making the reader fall in love with them. A dinner table conversation among Micah and his relatives is, by itself, worth the price of the book. It’s as though Tyler knows each of them so intimately that she can sketch them in detail with a sentence or two. I found myself wishing they’d invite me back, if only so I could discover what dessert they were having, as the narration never got past the whipped cream topping.
Though Anne Tyler rarely uses foul language or profanity in her works, this book has a few unpleasant words that prompt me to limit Redhead by the Side of the Road to four stars. Otherwise, she remains one of the few authors who books I enjoy rereading.
This is the second Anne Tyler book I’ve read. The first was “A Spool of Blue Thread”, which is very different from this book.
“Redhead by the Side of the Road” is a light, witty story about the pitfalls of being a little too set in your ways. Micah is a quirky man who has little room in his life for anything that will disrupt his status quo. Given Micah’s everyday life, disruption may be just the thing that he needs!
This book is both relaxing and entertaining as the author seamlessly eases into Micah’s past, his family and his current situation. Not too complex, this was a comfortable and enjoyable read.
The only disappointment I had with this charming book was that it ended too soon and a bit abruptly.
This book is an exceptionally well-written, incredibly crafted story of a decent but dull man who is controlling his life, step by step to ensure it doesn’t descend into the chaos of the life of his family. Tyler shows us how he meticulously moves through each step of each day, over and over until a surprise guest occurs, an incident that supplies revelatory backstory and which manages to upend his romantic life, all without changing how he proceeds. This goes on until the tale stops with an abrupt and surprisingly predictable ending. The story seems more like an extended character study–the style mirrored to the main character’s thought process. A family dinner is brilliant in illustrating the ruff-and-tumble disorder he is guarding himself again, yet it’s participants are so relatable you wonder why he’s reluctant to engage. The story is intriguing but doesn’t seem worth it in the end. It’s missing a sufficient payoff for all detail.
Love Anne Tyler! She has such a gift for bringing characters to life, exposing hidden beauty and illustrating the significance of things that are small, ordinary and often overlooked.
Not one of Anne Tyler’s major efforts – if only because of its brevity and the familiarity, for long-term readers, of the characters – but nevertheless, a minor-key delight. Effortless, real, funny, moving. Anne Tyler firing on half her cylinders beats most authors working in overdrive.
Loved it
Redhead by the Side of the Road is a short and satisfying novel. The protagonist Micah lives an ordered life, in contrast to the lives of his immediate family. He is reluctant to move out of his orderly existence, but is forced to do so when a teen-aged boy needs his help. An interesting plot twist.
Anne Tyler does a masterful job of conveying a man raised in a chaotic home who becomes obsessed with controlling his environment and living without risk or adventure.When his current relationship ends and a former girlfriends son shows up at his doorstep ,He is forced to confront his limited existence .The writer brings her main character to the realization Life is not perfect and the people we love with imperfections and flaws are preferable to a life without trust,connection and meaning An excellent read to remind us of what is truly important in life .
He finally grew up!
Vintage Ann Tyler, mostly predictable but with a few interesting twists, predictable ending. I enjoy her portrayals of family life and secret thoughts.
I love everything Anne Tyler writes so I cannot wait to read this new one. Will rate and evaluate after I read it.
Very slow and I kept waiting for the point…
Kept waiting for something to happen. It never did.
Love all Ann Tyler books
My first read by this author, not sure why…A growth novel. We followed 40 something-year-old, Micah’s footsteps. His orderly world upended and eventually set to rights. A good read.
I couldn’t get interested in this book. I couldn’t relate to the characters and the story line was very disjointed.