Product Description
A rich and compelling novel spanning three generations about a mismatched marriage and its consequences. Pauline and Michael seemed like the perfect couple; when they met it was love at first sight, and in the heat of World War II fervor, they were propelled into a hasty wedding. But they never should have married. Pauline is impulsive and impractical, while Michael is cautious and judgmental, and in time their foolish quarrels take their toll.Description in Spanish: Las estadísticas de divorcios están llenas de matrimonios en los que uno estaba hecho para el otro... Pero, a veces, sucede lo contrario: las parejas más incompatibles navegan por la vida durante años sembrando a su paso las historias más contradictorias... Porque, en ocasiones, el amor que funciona –mal que bien– no es cosa de profesionales, sino de aficionados. ... Read more

Product Description
A feminist and psychoanalytic investigation of the contemporary fascination with impersonation. The questions raised by female impersonations in a wide range of contemporary media are considered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Deconstructing Deconstructionism
Carole-Anne Tyler takes on the world of feminist criticism in Female Impersonation.The back cover states that she "explores what it would mean to take seriously the notion that gender is an artifice, that one's very identity is in fact a socially mandated impersonation."And it's this that is meant by the title.Female Impersonation is not primarily about drag queens; it's certainly not a "how-to" book, nor a sociological study of the phenomena.While transgendered issues do appear, they are not the main focus of Tyler's attention and primarily serve to attempt to illustrate her basic premise, that gender is imposed and not innate.

Here, though, is where the whole thing goes astray.Tyler's interest is in culture, not biology, and she looks solely at cultural artefacts to make her points.It's clear she's well read and thoughtful, but just because Simone de Beauvior, in The Second Sex, wrote, "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman...this creature, intermediate between male and eunuch, which is described as feminine", that doesn't mean it is true.It's certainly a provocative claim, and one that has had great influence in gender studies, but there's a growing body of biological evidence that directly contradicts it.This is a fundamental failure of Tyler's to confront the truth, or at least what appears now to be the truth: that while gender and sex are not identical, they are both biological in origin.Certainly any particular outward manifestation of gender is cultural (one merely needs to compare courtly male attire of Louis XIV to a Can-can dancer at the Moulin Rouge); but that is a far cry from claiming that gender itself is artificial.

Further weaknesses result from Tyler's single-minded cultural approach.When she does discuss drag queens, transsexuals, and other transgendered people, it seems apparent that she's only seen them on TV and in the movies, and maybe not too often, at that.In one chapter, Transsexual Impersonation: the Ultimate Sacrifice, she repeated speaks of TV movies about transsexuals and makes broad generalizations about them and how they reflect the societal view of gender.Never mind that every transsexual would be livid about the chapter title; it's impossible to argue the point that transsexuals are not impersonating women, they are becoming women--or even, they have always been women but are making their physique match their gender, with someone who believes that natal females are female impersonators!No, what's particularly odd here, especially given the breadth of her source material elsewhere, is that after practically being given the impression there's a transsexual movie-of-the-week, Tyler apparently knows only one TV movie about transsexuals: Second Serve, the Renee Richards Story.It's a problematic example at best to learn anything about transsexualism--Richards now professes unhappiness with her gender change, and Dr. Richard Stoller's theories, summed up as "too much mother and too little father makes a feminine boy" are widely recognized today as simply inaccurate.Stoller is the only medical professional cited in the work, and that from work published in 1985.Tyler is either unaware of or ignores more recent studies, such as one indicating differences in brain physiology between transsexuals and non-transsexuals; this surely gives the lie to her fundamental premise.Nor did she employ basic sociological research.Should Tyler have gone and interviewed transgendered people, she might have gotten a real impression of their experience and what gender really means.If one wants to write about gender and culture, and use the incongruities of gender and sex as examples on which to base one's point, to not speak directly to those people is unconscionable.Failing to step out of the ivory tower and truly consider the accuracy of comments by "authorities" is common to far too much academic writing; I speak as an academic myself.

Instead, Tyler would prefer to discuss what various cultural critics have said, and even here I'm not always sure whether she agrees with them or not.Catherine Mallot is cited as claiming that "the transsexual, like the transvestite, wishes to be a 'she-male," the phallic woman who lacks nothing...the transsexual can only lose lack by giving up the penis.Paradoxically, a real castration is demanded as the (imaginary) solution to castration anxiety."I'm amazed--a feminist Freudian.Again, speaking with actual post-operative transsexuals would not bear this over-thought nonsense out.A quick flip through a random chapter sub-section reveals the following writers cited: Pecheux, Brownmiller, Irigaray, Butler, Beauvoir, Foucault, Fanon, Freud, Lacan, Woolf--well, I'm stopping here, after only two pages!Literally hundreds of writers are cited throughout the book, and if you haven't read them in depth, you'll wonder at the relevance of much of this.It frankly reads like a doctoral dissertation, in which the author seeks to impress by displaying her prodigious bibliographic skills in lieu of her impressive critical thinking skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Tyler's "Tumble Tower" is a Terrific Tale
I am an adult who never liked picture books as a child (I fell in love with reading in fourth grade, when I finally had the vocabulary and comprehension skills to read the more appealing "Chapter" books). I came to this book because Tyler is one of my favorite contemporary novelists, and even though I love tons of other novelists both present and past, sometimes I just can't wait for Tyler's latest to hit the stores. So, I read her children's book, and I was enchanted.The story is great, the pictures are charming, but what I liked best was the book's "Child is father of man" philosophy.Modarressi, who happens to be Tyler's daughter, has written and illustrated a number of other books: don't miss "Yard Sale!" and "The Parent Thief" and even the weaker "The Dream Pillow" is worth a look-see.

Captivating illustrations are what make this the prize it is
The story of Tumble Tower is hardly throw-away - Princess Molly the Messy is almost despised by her family: King Clement the Clean, Queen Nellie the Neat, and Prince Thomas the Tidy.Molly lives in the castle tower, where her room is beyond what most would considered "a bit cluttered."However, as we soon discover after the rest of the castle is flooded, even the messiest of rooms can be considered a safe, even comfortable haven.Seeing life through Molly's eyes gives the rest of her family a sense of understanding, perhaps even empathy.

While Anne Tyler's story is very nice, I found the illustrations to be far more engaging.There are hidden surprises in almost every page, and the characters are wittily, handsomely, and endearingly brought to life in a style that almost resembles the Saturday morning series "Angela Anaconda."

The kids will love having this book read to them again and again, and there's enough treasures spread throughout to make the parents most happy to oblige.

Children love it, too!
Although an avid Anne Tyler fan, I just discovered this book she wrote for children and I now number it among my favorites.I find it perfectly charming to see childhood "messiness" vindicated.My grandchildren (ages 8 to 13) thoroughly enjoy the book, too.I can tell they relate to "Messy Molly," although maintaining that their own bedrooms are never as messy as the wonderful two-page spread of Molly's room.

sweetly subversive story, beautiful pictures
Can you imagine a children's book about messiness which does not end with the character discovering the error of her ways and (literally and figuratively) straightening up?Instead, Molly's free-spirited approach tostoring her personal possessions is celebrated.Molly, her friends, andthe family pets revel in the glorious mess, and even her uptight parentsand little brother come to see the advantages of disorder.A highlight isa wordless double-page spread showing Molly's room in all its splendour. Ask your childto locate different objects, a la the "I Spy"books.

Messier is Better!!!
This book is the perfect vidication for those of us who are hopelessly sloppy.How can we contend with the celebrated neatness of this person or that person?How can we explain that there is indeed a method to our madness?We are messy for a reason!Anne Tyler does a wonderful job championing our cause and Mitra Modarressi's illustrations are perfect to keep children rivited.I read this to my friend's 7-year old, and I finally had a valid explanation for why there are "so many things on my bedroom floor." ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on March 22, 2002. The length of the article is 513 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Anne Tyler. Back When We Were Grownups.
Author: Rita D. Jacobs
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2002
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 76Issue: 2Page: 154(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
rom the incomparable Anne Tyler, a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn't bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new, spare, and efficient condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged.His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is-well, something quite different.We all know a Liam. In fact, there may be a little of Liam in each of us. Which is why Anne Tyler's lovely novel resonates so deeply. ... Read more