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Breathing Lessons

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

July 29, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

BreathingLessonsHow does Anne Tyler do it? How does she create these wonderfully quirky characters who say and do cringe-worthy things in their daily lives yet share qualities that strike uncomfortably resonant chords in her readers? In Breathing Lessons, we meet Maggie and Ira Moran, a long-married couple who, as the novel opens, are on their way to the funeral of Maggie’s best friend’s husband. The action of the novel takes place in one day and much of it on their road trip from Baltimore to Deer Lick, Pennsylvania. Of course, I had to Google “Deer Lick” to see if it really exists. It does. It’s just southwest of Pittsburg and more than a three-hour drive from Baltimore, an interminably long time to be stuck in the car with these two characters. Maggie is a busy-body. But she is also good-natured – the kind of person who strikes up conversations with strangers and then divulges the most personal information. While stopped at a convenience store along the road, Maggie tells the clerk her family troubles: her son can’t keep a steady job, has once been arrested, pretends to be a rock star and is divorced with a young daughter. In fact, Maggie is certain she has heard her ex-daughter-in-law, Fiona, on a talk show this very morning as she was driving their car out of the auto shop. She’s so surprised to her Fiona’s voice that she slams straight into a truck. Here is another of Maggie’s characteristics: She’s accident prone. And Maggie takes the notion of “wishful thinking” to a whole new level. While she doesn’t exactly lie to her friends and loved ones, she habitually tells what Mark Twain would call “stretchers.” She frequently creates elaborate scenarios in her head in which she can change things, to make them better, with little regard for the real impact on other people’s lives. The most audacious example of Maggie’s “meddling” here is her plan to stop in on her ex-daughter-in-law and granddaughter and convince them to drive back to Baltimore with her and Ira — a thinly-veiled attempt to get Fiona and Leroy back together with the Morans’ immature and irresponsible son. We also learn, through Maggie’s conversation with the stranger at the diner, that their daughter, Daisy is leaving for college the next morning with a full scholarship to an Ivy League school. The girl has become “unrecognizable” to Maggie who, with tears in her eyes, tells the clerk that Daisy recently asked her this chilling question: “Mom? Was there a certain conscious point in your life when you decided to settle for being ordinary?” Ouch. Later Ira suggests that Maggie’s hare-brained idea to stop bring Fiona and Leroy home with them is her way of replacing Daisy with Leroy. Maggie wants an opportunity to start anew with her granddaughter, to do things right this time. This, it seems to me is what Anne Tyler is examining in this novel – the wish we all have to turn back the clock, to get one more chance to dosomething better the next time around. That said, there are some lovely moments between Maggie and Ira, moments which only happen between long-married couples who have known and loved each other for many years.  And while Maggie has, no doubt, settled for being “ordinary,” Anne Tyler reminds us that, in the final analysis, it’s what we all have in common.

Courtesy Cherie Clark
Courtesy Cherie Clark

Breathing Lessons is a beautifully written novel which highlights poignant moments in a couple’s ordinary life. Though sometimes painful and close to home, there were also times when Maggie’s reflections had me laughing out loud. And for me, looking for a sense of the State of Maryland in this novel, I got a great feel for the countryside on the road between Maryland and Pennsylvania. I particularly liked this description of driving out of Baltimore: The scenery grew choppy. Stretches of playgrounds and cemeteries were broken suddenly by clumps of small business – liquor stores pizza parlors, dark little bars and taverns dwarfed by the giant dish antennas on their roofs. Then another playground would open out. And once they cross into Pennsylvania: They entered Pennsylvania and the road grew smooth for a few hundred yards, like a good intention, before settling back to the same old scabby, stippled surface. The views were long and curved and green – a small child’s drawing of farm country. Distinct black cows grazed on the hillsides. MarylandCountrysideAnd when they return to Maryland after their adventure: They were in Maryland now, and Maggie imagined that the country here looked different —more luxurious. The hillsides emptied of livestock, had turned a deep, perfect green, and in the faded light the long white fences gave off a moony glimmer. Yes, I have a sense of Maggie Moran’s world now, both the physical landscape and the emotional turmoil inherent in any ordinary, long-lived life, beginning with youthful hope, taking the bumps and disappointments as they come but never losing sight of the possibility for positive change, and maybe a little well-intended meddling.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, Maryland

The Ivy Bookshop

July 10, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Courtesy http://cdn.baltimore.org/
Courtesy http://cdn.baltimore.org/

On to Maryland! My initial internet search for bookstores in Maryland worried me: are all Maryland bookstores in shopping centers? Is all of Maryland merely a suburb of Washington, D.C.? Wait, wait! That can’t be true. There’s Annapolis, which I’ve visited. I found a lovely bookstore there, but it specializes in maritime books, not for me. Their page featured a lovely Robert Frost poem: The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day. Despite the fact that I was reading this on a very warm summer day, I appreciated the poem nonetheless.

My continued search brought up several bookstores in Baltimore, so I decided to go IvyStorefrontthere. Turns out, my favorite is The Ivy Bookshop. Here’s a place I’d love to visit. The website describes the ideal bookseller as “literate personal shoppers, mind readers, therapists, and bartenders (non-judgmental advice without the booze)” I loved that! Especially a quote from a customer which said, “I stop in at the Ivy after work for my happy hour.” I’m pretty sure there’s no bar or bartender at the Ivy, but I can certainly understand the idea of getting buzzed on great literature.

Turns out the Ivy was voted “Baltimore’s Best Bookstore” by Baltimore Magazine and Baltimore City Paper. Its owner, Ann Berlin, has been in publishing since 1975, with all very impressive credentials including editing a publication for the Smithsonian. But, more than that, I’m interested that their booksellers are described as knowledgeable and friendly individuals who make a point of getting to know their customers’ personal preferences and recommending books based on that. I spend a little time cruising the book blog, the book recommendation of the day (both fiction and non-fiction) and then I’m definitely ready to make the call.

Courtesy JeanV-viaYelp!
Courtesy JeanV-viaYelp!

My call is answered by bookseller Nancy Chambers, who definitely fits the bill of “knowledgeable and friendly.” After I explain my project and ask for a recommendation (or two) of Maryland authors she likes, she immediately suggests Anne Tyler. Now, I have read several of Anne Tyler’s books, The Accidental Tourist being one of my all-time favorites. I’m charmed to learn that the author lives in the bookstore neighborhood, and that Nancy has been reading her for years, speaks of her like a friend. Nancy recommends Breathing Lessons which I have not read. She asks if she can call me back in a couple of hours after she has spent some time thinking over other possible recommendations and talking to her colleagues. Yes! This is great—I love it when booksellers are enthusiastic about my project and take the time to consider their recommendations.

Nancy and I chatted a bit about Baltimore before ending our call. I tell her I’ve never visited but have watched a few episodes of The Wire. She laughs and tells me that she hears that a lot but assures me that Baltimore is a great place to live and work – no more dangerous than any other city. Nancy is also tickled that I want to order books from The Ivy Bookshop when I could probably find the same books in Seattle. I explain that this is part of my quest – reading books from each state and supporting the independent bookstores in those states as I go along – and that I’m having as much fun talking to booksellers as I am reading the books they recommend. “It feels like my birthday whenever those packages of books arrive in my mailbox.” I say. She laughs, tells me she’ll call me back at three.

Nancy is right on time in calling me back. She still recommends her first choice – Anne Tyler, and she has added John Barth as her other suggestion, The Floating Opera and The End of the Road. Great! Send them to me, I say.

When the package from The Ivy Bookshop arrives a week later, I can’t help but smile. Nancy has taken the trouble to wrap each book in ivy paper with gold ribbon around. It truly does feel like my birthday now. There’s also a hand-written note: “Thank you! ENJOY!” I can’t wait to tear the wrapping off and get reading.

Ivy-2

 

Filed Under: Coast to Coast Tagged With: Anne Tyler, Baltimore Maryland, Breathing Lessons, independent bookstores, John Barth, The Ivy Bookshop

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