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Anne Tyler

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Earthly Possessions Kindle Edition

by Anne Tyler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.0 745 ratings

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From the beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Breathing Lessons—Charlotte Emory has always lived a quiet, conventional life in Clarion, Maryland. She lives as simply as possible, and one day decides to simplify everything and leave her husband.

Her last trip to the bank throws Charlotte's life into an entirely different direction when a restless young man in a nylon jacket takes her hostage during the robbery—and soon the two are heading south into an unknown future, and a most unexpected fate.

Print length

210 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

January 26, 2011
File size

3900 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"To read a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love."—PEOPLE Magazine

“A taste of Anne Tyler, once acquired, is a splendid addiction.”—The New York Times

From the Inside Flap

d a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love."

PEOPLE

Charlotte Emory has always lived a quiet, conventional life in Clarion, Maryland. She lives as simply as possible, and one day decides to simplify everything and leave her husband. Her last trip to the bank throws Charlotte's life into an entirely different direction when a restless young man in a nylon jacket takes her hostage during the robbery--and soon the two are heading south into an unknown future, and a most unexpected fate....

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004IK8PQ4
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; 1st Ballantine Books trade ed edition (January 26, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 26, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3900 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 210 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1446419088

Best Sellers Rank: #723,958 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,272 in Psychological Literary Fiction
- #3,938 in Psychological Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #5,911 in Contemporary Literary Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.0 745 ratings

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Anne Tyler

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Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of more than twenty novels. Her twentieth novel, A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD, was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2015. Her eleventh novel, BREATHING LESSONS, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

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4 out of 5

745 global ratings

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E. Bartley

My Favorite

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2017

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Earthly Possessions is probably my favorite novel by Tyler, who is probably my favorite author. Her characters are so beautifully fleshed out that I KNOW them! And often, I will learn something of my own personality in discovering my quirks (especially those of which I am unaware) in her people. And that's why I love THIS book the best. Charlotte, the heroine, has absolutely no circumstance in her life that mirrors my life, and yet I feel that I could BE Charlotte. Another characteristic of Tyler's writing is that she can ever so deftly lead a reader gradually to a discovery about some background truth or a character without actually articulating it.

9 people found this helpful

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Deanna D. Dudley

I always enjoy

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2023

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Anne Tyler, her characters are always so relatable. This book was no exception. I would recommend this book to any Anne Tyler fan. If you're not an Anne Tyler fan, maybe this will be the book that sets you on that path.

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2012

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The book begins with Charlotte Emory, a middle aged woman, going to the bank to withdraw money, as she has decided to leave her husband. However, a young man named Jake robs the bank and takes her as a hostage. Their journey takes them to Florida, to get Jake's pregnant, teenage girlfriend who is in a home for unwed women. The trip itself seemed less important to me than Charlotte's reminiscing about her life with her quirky family.

The Emory family was perhaps dysfunctional, but perhaps they were just a quirky family that Charlotte didn't like. Charlotte's husband was unemployed when they married but then became a preacher. Charlotte was not religious and was not happy with his vocational choice. He was always bringing people home to live with them including his three brothers. Some others he brought home were quirky. He also brought home a young boy to be their son. Charlotte complained about the additions to their household, but she always put up with them. Despite her unhappiness, she passively put up with her lot.

This is my third Anne Tyler book. Like the others, it is very well written and has excellent character development, but I didn't really enjoy it as I did the others. Perhaps it was because I couldn't relate to any of the characters or even like them. Charlotte was somewhat sympathetic, but I kept wanting to give her a shove and tell her to do something instead of continually bemoaning her fate and doing nothing about it. Jake was irresponsible, had had several scrapes with the law and was disliked by many people whom he knew. Her husband was very inconsiderate of his own family. Although I was not surprised by the ending, I found it rather unsatisfactory.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading about oddball characters.

7 people found this helpful

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Valski

A Delightful Surprise

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2013

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I know that Ann Tyler said this book (her first 4 books actually) aren't her best--but I really liked this. It's not the style we are used to, but it's a sweet, poignant narrative with a universal theme. It's far from maudlin and especially creative. I really liked it--and I've read everything she's published. Don't expect Homesick or Ladder of Years or anything along those lines--just go into it with an open mind, and an open heart. :)

One person found this helpful

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Lazy Day Gardener

I'd run away from home, but I can't cross the street...,.

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2009

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Anne Tyler's characters are quirky - that's a given. And this is an especially quirky and interesting lot. Although an early book, this is a vintage Tyler plot - the woman who needs to run away from home.

Thirty-five-year-old Charlotte is in the process of leaving her family - again - when she is taken hostage by the world's most ineffectual bank robber. The two flee by bus to liberate the robber's girl friend from a home for unwed mothers, and in the process we learn Charlotte's story.

It's an early Tyler and the characters are a bit over-the-top, but nevertheless worth reading.

One person found this helpful

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Signa

I feel like I know the people when I am finished with ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2015

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Anne Tyler is such an exceptional author with her characters. I feel like I know the people when I am finished with one of her books. I am currently reading all of her books. I am more than half way through and I have loved all of them. I am so happy I found her books. It has been an enjoyable fun getting to know all the people and especially the quirky ones.

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013

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This novel is somewhat different than what we usually get from Anne Tyler. Usually her characters are quirky in a funny way and I find myself comparing her characters to people in my life. This time is different. Her characters are quirky but in a way that's sad and endearing. You want to reach out and help them. That being said, Anne has done a remarkable job in developing her characters. Each one can easily comes to life. The story line moves along smoothly, going back and forth between past and present. I would easily recommend this book. Just don't expect to laugh out loud this time.

2 people found this helpful

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Penny Rosen

Page Turner. Couldn't put it down.

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2014

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I read and collect all of Anne Tyler's books and love every one of them. Every book is my favorite until I read the next one. It will be a sad day I have read them all, maybe you remember the book, "Breathing Lessons" a movie starring ?

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Loved Digging to America & A spool of blue thread ...

Reviewed in India on March 9, 2018

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She is not very well known in India...don't know why. She should be. Her books are seemingly simple, but have a depth that gets revealed as one immerses themselves in them.

Loved Digging to America & A spool of blue thread and this one is no exception.

One person found this helpful

Mrs. Angela Lees

Sublime

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2013

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I have had about a ten year break from Ann Tyler. Why? I read this book in a day. And I was left bereft - not wanting more from the story, it was finite, but just wanting to keep walking along with her voice in my head. Oh God I sound like an American, but I just really did enjoy the book.

One person found this helpful

Amazon-Kunde

Erstaunlich

Reviewed in Germany on August 1, 2012

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Nicht nur erstaunt mich Tylers Fähigkeit immer aufs Neue, hineinzutauchen in das, was uns Menschen ausmacht, dabei ein Feuerwerk von Empfindungen freizusetzen, nie pathetisch zu sein, kunstvoll zu jonglieren zwischen bedrückend Traurigem, Komik, Poesie, Skurilem. Auch erstaunlich ist an dieser Stelle für mich, dass die letzte Rezension dieses Buches auf das Jahr 2000 zurückgeht. Kann es sein, dass solche phantastischen Bücher nicht mehr gelesen werden, irgendwie untergehen in all dem, was man "heute so gelesen haben sollte"?

Die Geschichte von Charlotte und Jake, dem kleinen Bankräuber und Tunichtgut auf der einen Seite und die Geschichte von Charlotte und ihrer Familie auf der anderen Seite, ist so atemberaubend gut, dass ich nur hoffen kann, diese Autorin wird auch noch in Zukunft das eine oder andere Buch schreiben. Für mich bleiben bis dahin zum Glück noch ein paar ungelesene zurück!

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Ann Fairweather

The lightness of being

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2014

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It could have been a day like any other in the dull life of housewife Charlotte but fate decided otherwise. Because of a failed bank heist, she finds herself taken hostage by the robber Jake. Then follows an improvised road trip across the US to escape police attention. Things slowly reveal themselves to be not so simple. Jake isn't the tough guy he tries to be and Charlotte finds a nearly perverse pleasure in being caught in a passive situation, having left her life behind without regret. It is a captivating story because you keep wondering how it could possibly end. In between chapters, we retrace Charlotte's strange and sad life until the bank kidnapping. She is a woman hard to decipher and probably don't quite understand herself and her motivations fully either. Possessions and attachments burden her. She seems on a search for an impossible lightness of being that life, with its bothering duties, can never provide. Hence perhaps, the secret pleasure in drifting away with Jake on the road towards the unknown. But then, what? I won't reveal the ending but it is a wonderful, if very melancholic, story. It raises questions about our choices, our duties, our bonds to things and people and how much of it all is really us? But then detached from everything and everyone, who are we? Charlotte definitely is on the search for an answer...

6 people found this helpful

Bookworm

definitely not her best

Reviewed in Germany on April 9, 2013

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I love Anne Tyler, but this wasn't up to her usual standard. I found the characters unbelievable and the plot weak.

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