Over the past 25 years, Anne Tyler has produced 11 novels that have enjoyed increasing critical acclaim and popular success, including "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant", "The Accidental Tourist", and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Breathing Lessons". In this book, the author offers in-depth analyses of each of Tyler"s novels, paying special attention to the honing of her style and technical expertise, as well as the evolution of her ideas regarding the individual and the family, the need for Emersonian self-reliance in the face of uncertainty and change, and the capacity of art to facilitate emotional and spiritual well-being. Drawing upon her own correspondence with Tyler in addition to interviews and personal statements throughout her career, Petry also explores how Tyler herself feels about her achievement, her work habits, the various influences on her writing, and her place in contemporary American literature. The book also provides a biographical sketch of Tyler and an annotated bibliography that is essential to anyone interested in pursuing further research on one of the most important writers of our era.