by Anne Tyler
First published 1985
Macon lives by strict routines. He flosses his teeth before making love. He plans every detail of his days. Then his son dies and his wife leaves him. Macon tries to maintain his careful systems, but grief makes ordinary tasks impossible. He takes his dog to the Meow-Bow clinic and meets Muriel, a dog trainer who operates by different rules entirely. She disrupts his schedules and pushes into his ordered world. Macon finds himself torn between his need for control and Muriel's chaotic energy. His attempts to manage daily life become both funny and heartbreaking as he struggles with loss. The story follows his journey between the safety of routine and the messy reality of human connection.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Period: 20th-century
355 pages · Hardcover · New York Knopf 1985.