#82 The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler (Vintage)

Nick Hornby is one of my favourite writers, but I’m going to have to stop taking his advice about books to read. The front of my copy of The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler, sees Hornby proclaiming it is ‘brilliant, funny, sad and sensitive”, while the reverse sees the effusive writer of the likes of Fever Pitch saying ‘My favourite writer, and the best line-and-length novelist in the world, is Anne Tyler”.

It’s statements like those which influence my book selections for this challenge, but much like One Day, I find that, unfortunately, Hornby’s tastes don’t tally with my own.

I can’t entirely blame Nick. The Accidental Tourist is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel, so it’s clear that at least some critics agree with Hornby rather than me, and William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis starred in an award-winning film of the same name. But while the story was entertaining enough, it never gripped me. It was never funny enough or poignant enough to generate in me the emotional response that others have apparently experienced.

Like How to Talk to a Widower, the main character is a man recovering from grief, in his case the death of his son. He is a guidebook writer for businessmen who have no intention of seeing the sights of the places they visit, but just want to know about their home comforts – the Accidental Tourist in question. But he’s also an accidental tourist in his own life, a man who is unable to engage with others and loses his marriage as a consequence.

Into his life enters a bizarre dog trainer, who gives him the strength to rebuild his life and lead to him having to actively make a decision on how he wants to spend his remaining days, but I was never significantly moved by the ups and downs and twists and turns. Sure, there were times I raised a chuckle, but I never reached the emotional highs and lows Nick hinted at. It’s my loss, I know.

So, rating time:

#82 The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler (Vintage) - 6/10

Next up: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (Penguin Group)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating