Muriel has arrived at the Leary compound to whip into line Edward, Macon's pugnacious Welsh corgi who's fond of treeing bicyclists and family members. Immobilized by a broken leg (was that accident an unconscious wish?), Macon will settle in with the family he started with-two brothers (one divorced) and sister Rose-in ultimate safety, where like plump, brooding fowl, the four deliberate in soothing converse, rearrange the straws of domesticity, Enter the 'impossible' Muriel Pritchett, shrill as a macaw, single mother of a pale, wretched young boy, scrabbling for a living at various jobs, and existing messily on a cacophonous Baltimore street. Sarah will leave this man that she claims remains 'unchanged,' who refuses to argue with the knowledge that the world is vile. How do 'impossible' couples evolve? In this most recent, luminous novel by Tyler, a 'fairly chilly' man, muffled in loneliness, learns that a man and a woman can come together 'for reasons the rest of the world would never guess.' One can leave the principality of self to tour another's-to love 'the surprise of her.the surprise of himself when he was with her.' Macon Leary, married to Sarah, is an author of travel books for businessmen whose 'concern was how to pretend they had never left home'-who want safe and comforting accommodations and food, who want to travel 'without a jolt.' Macon and Sarah, devastated by the senseless murder of their 12-year-old son in a fast-food shop holdup, are about to part.

The accidental tourist book review