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Anne Tyler
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A Slipping-Down Life Paperback – May 4, 2004

by Anne Tyler (Author)
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 660 ratings
See all formats and editions
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“To read a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love.” —People

The beloved bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author brings us the story of Evie Decker, a shy, slightly plump teenager, lonely and silent. But her quiet life is shattered when she hears the voice of Drumstrings Casey on the radio and becomes instantly attracted to him. She manages to meet him, bursting out of her lonely shell—and into the attentive gaze of the intangible man who becomes all too real....

“Without Anne Tyler, American fiction would be an immeasurably bleaker place.”
—Newsweek
Previous page
  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    May 4, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0345478959
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0345478955
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“TO READ A NOVEL BY ANNE TYLER IS TO FALL IN LOVE.”
—People

“Anne Tyler is a wise and perceptive writer with a warm understanding of human foible.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“All of Tyler’s novels are wonderful.”
—Newsweek

“One of the most beguiling and mesmerizing writers in America.”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Not merely good . . . She is wickedly good!”
—John Updike

“A novelist who knows what a proper story is . . . A very funny writer. . . Not only a good and artful writer, but a wise one as well.”
—Newsweek

“Tyler’s characters have character: quirks, odd angles of vision, colorful mean streaks and harmonic longings.”
—Time

“Her people are triumphantly alive.”
—The New York Times

“Without Anne Tyler, American fiction would be an immeasurably bleaker place.”
—Newsweek

From the Inside Flap

"Without Anne Tyler, American fiction would be an immeasurably bleaker place."
NEWSDAY
Evie Decker is a shy, slightly plump teenager, lonely and silent. But her quiet life is shattered when she hears the voice of Drumstrings Casey on the radio and becomes instantly attracted to him. She manages to meet him, bursting out of her lonely shell--and into the attentive gaze of the intangible man who becomes all too real....


From the Paperback edition.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Media tie-in edition (May 4, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345478959
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345478955
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 660 ratings

About the author

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Anne Tyler

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.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
660 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Alyssa Donati
5.0 out of 5 stars SWF seeks glittering music man for love and torture...
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2012
Verified Purchase
A Slipping-Down Life is so shrewdly written and the characters so expertly constructed that I wound up reading it in about three days. It is almost a novella exploring the lives of two lost young people. The girl, Evie, is plain, lonely and bored. The boy is arrogant, insouciant, and swirling in a haze of artistic yearning. He wants to be a red hot rock star. He wants to escape his uninspiring town and buy a house with white telephones and a swimming pool. She wants something to worship. Something to jolt her out of her catatonic life and give her a reason to exist. Anne Tyler is very adept at creating characters like these -- forlorn outcasts who are hopelessly damaged or simply desperate to be loved or liked or accepted. When Evie sees the boy one night singing at a nightclub she's mesmerized by his long greased hair, his black leather boots and his spangled guitar. If she could have that, if she could get his attention, maybe life would be worth it. The novel really becomes fascinating when Evie does the only thing she can do to get his attention -- which is carve his name in her forehead. This impetuous act somehow brings these two lost souls together and you stand there watching as they finally interact like someone eaves dropping in a hallway. This book is very visual -- Tyler's descriptions of nightclubs, old houses and hospitals burst like 3 dimensional images on a screen. You can smell the cut grass, the frying eggs and spilled beer. You can almost reach out and touch Evie's dull brown hair adorned with plastic headbands, rollers or flaking barrettes. A Slipping-Down Life is bleak and beautiful and these two heartbreaking young people are glorious to watch as they stumble and get up again in search for something to live for.
11 people found this helpful
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Deanna D. Dudley
4.0 out of 5 stars Like every
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022
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Anne Tyler novel I have read, this one leaves me lonely for the friends I've spent so much time with over the last several days. I'll be wondering how Evie and Drum and David are doing and thinking about them from time to time while I drink my coffee. I have so many questions, I wish I could pick up the phone and give Evie a call, or stop by the Unicorn next Saturday night and see if Drum is playing.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Could not wait for it to end
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2019
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This is one of the few Anne Tyler stories that I did not enjoy reading. The story line is not the least bit believable. I literally could not wait for the book to end.
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KDB
2.0 out of 5 stars kdb
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Extremely disappointed in this novel. The characters are sad, selfish, and pathetic. No real redemption—-just gloom. I usually enjoy an Anne Tyler novel. Not this one.
One person found this helpful
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C. Wong
5.0 out of 5 stars Like A Beautiful Song!
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
I read the reviews before I read this book, contrary to the general opinion, I found this earlier book quite enjoyable. To me, this is a song and Anne Tyler later wrote symphonies.

Evie Decker is an overweight seventeen-year-old. I identified with her shyness and awkwardness at that age. She only had one friend, Violet who outweighed her so much that she almost looked normal sitting beside her. She feels lonely and unnoticed, she lives with her father and they seem to keep to themselves but he cares for her. There is a hired cleaning lady, Clotelia who is quiet until Evie begins to change her life, then we know what Clotelia is thinking.

Evie hears a hapless interview of Bertram Casey, aka Drumstrings, a rock singer without much talent, and goes with her friend, Violet to hear him sing. She is impressed and wants to be noticed by him. She doesn't feel it is possible to get him to be hers but something dramatic and off-putting happens and he slowly notices her.

I love the ending the most of all. Please read this book and see if you agree.
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classic
4.0 out of 5 stars ANother Ann Tyler goodie
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2012
Verified Purchase
A slipping Down life was another Ann Tyler's good read. I enhjoyed the story very much. Typical of Ann Tyler's characters, the people in the book we're one of a kind. A Slipping Down life is a nice quick read that you will enjoy. BUt you'll get tied up in the characters and want to know how things turn out years from now. That's what Anne Tyler does to you.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Older book, but it was as good of a read as when I first read it many years ago.
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is one of the first books that I read as a young girl. It brought back alot of memories, and it still relates to how a young teenage girl can become infatuated with a guy that really isn't as wonderful as she originally thought. It came out about the same time as "The Outsiders", and kind of has the same tone and feel.
3 people found this helpful
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Snapdog
5.0 out of 5 stars a funny book but not happy
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2015
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Anne Tyler is the only author I know who could bring this book off without leaving me totally depressed. Well, she and Lee Smith. The words flow right from the dirt poor South, but you can't find offense in them. There are people who live this way all over the world. The South just uses them for characters. It's a sad story of a girl who wants more but doesn't really know how or what to want, and a boy who lacks the talent to be what he needs to be. Don't read it looking for an uplifting experience, but read it for the words, the people, the South. It is a treasure.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

PenFriend
5.0 out of 5 stars Fallen Idol
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
Compelling and filmic, a Slipping down Life connects us with Evie Decker and her idol Drum Casey. The stolidly overweight and slovenly Evie develops a passion for a second rate but erotically compelling roadhouse guitarist.
Drum Casey's specialitiy is his 'calling out'; odd sentences punctuate his twanging bluesy compositions and although Evie doesn't understand what his words mean, she becomes enamoured of the dark haired , olive skinned rebel. Her blowsy obese friend Violet abets her in their visits to the Phoenix to see the poor white trash acts there.
When Evie indulges in self harm over idol it makes her an infamous celebrity causing him to finally notice her, even if it is in a negative light.We soon realise that the seemingly rebellios Drum is a Momma's boy and when Momma ditches him, Evie takes over her role of making his biscuits eggs and bacon.
The monosylallbic inscrutable Drum teams up with Evie to create a small buzz in the Phoenix. As their relationship develops Drum's sexiness diminishes into a kind of arrogant abuse of Evie's goodwill toward him. He uses her for sex, cigarette money and his general good welfare. Without her , he is a fairly untalented wastrel.
Evie and his manager try to think of ways to publicise Drum, but their actions are always thwarted by Drum's own reluctance to be anything but a slacker.
When he finally insults Evie she knows she is beat and she also knows he is not worth her time .
This all sounds highly serious but is in fact written in the most delightful and kindly manner. Tyler's skill at vernacular dialogue is superb and each character leaps off the page larger than life.
Make a great Jarmusch film- hilarious.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2017
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BrendaT
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2015
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Another well written and page turning novel from Anne Tyler.
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Ann E
5.0 out of 5 stars No Slipping and a nice twist from Tyler
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2015
Verified Purchase
I am a total Anne Tyler fan - her writing is so concise, tight, descriptive and always scratches at how we are and how we feel and how life progresses. Somehow missed this slightly bizarre story which she wrote some years ago and has a delightful "oh!" of a twist at the end which explains the extraordinary tatoo on Evie's forehead.
One person found this helpful
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philip durrance
3.0 out of 5 stars Not so sure!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2015
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Not so sure !
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