Digging to America: A Novel
by Anne Tyler
List Price:
Our Price: $3.94
You Save: $11.01 (74%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Anne TylerEdition: Paperback
Published: 2007-08-28
ISBN: 034549234X
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Digging to America: A Novel
Book Review: Mediocre at best
Summary: 2 Stars
I have never read a book by Anne Tyler before, and probably won't read another.
The characters were pretty boring. Some of them seemed to have interesting internal lives, and the sections of the book where the reader encountered a character alone were the best parts. But when interacting with each other they lost all dimension and the dialogue was flat and cliched.
The two little girls could have been given a lot more depth, considering they seemed to be the central characters of the book when they are first introduced. However, as the book goes on they have little interaction with the adult characters and seem more like stage props or pets. I guess, given the cover art, I thought the story would have been about the girls and that the reader would have been given more insight into their thoughts on being adopted, on growing up in American culture, etc. Just because they are children doesn't mean they can't have interesting perspectives on their situation.
Overall, it wasn't entirely poorly written, it was just boring and unengaging. Not to mention having to trudge through the pages and pages devoted to the "binky party," which really seemed to have no bearing on the rest of the plot at all.
Summary of Digging to America: A Novel
Anne Tyler’s richest, most deeply searching novel–a story about what it is to be an American, and about Iranian-born Maryam Yazdan, who, after 35 years in this country, must finally come to terms with her “outsiderness.”Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport – the Donaldsons, a very American couple, and the Yazdans, Maryam’s fully assimilated son and his attractive Iranian wife. Each couple is awaiting the arrival of an adopted infant daughter from Korea. After the instant babies from distant Asia are delivered, Bitsy Donaldson impulsively invites the Yazdans to celebrate: an “arrival party” that from then on is repeated every year as the two families become more and more deeply intertwined. Even Maryam is drawn in – up to a point. When she finds herself being courted by Bitsy Donaldson’s recently widowed father, all the values she cherishes – her traditions, her privacy, her otherness–are suddenly threatened.
A luminous novel brimming with subtle, funny, and tender observations that immerse us in the challenges of both sides of the American story.
From the Hardcover edition.
Contemporary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Good Books
Digging to America: A Novelby Anne Tyler
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-08-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
A Spot of Bother (Vintage)by Mark Haddon
Vintage; Published: 2007-08-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops:
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoirby Bill Bryson
Broadway; Published: 2006-10-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.85
Price in other shops:
When Madeline Was Youngby Jane Hamilton
Anchor; Published: 2007-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops:
One Good Turnby Kate Atkinson
Doubleday; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Heat. by Bill Bufordby Bill Buford
Published: 2006; Hardcover; Book
The Splendor of Silence: A Novelby Indu Sundaresan
Washington Square Press; Published: 2007-09-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
The Road (Oprah's Book Club)by Cormac McCarthy
Vintage Books; Published: 2007-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novelby Diane Setterfield
Washington Square Press; Published: 2007-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.10
Price in other shops:
Water for Elephants: A Novelby Sara Gruen
Algonquin Books; Published: 2007-04-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Unaccustomed Earthby Jhumpa Lahiri
Knopf; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.87
Price in other shops:
People of the Book: A Novelby Geraldine Brooks
Viking Adult; Published: 2008-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.60
Price in other shops:
Half of a Yellow Sunby Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Anchor; Published: 2007-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.65
Price in other shops:
Bridge of Sighsby Richard Russo
Knopf; Published: 2007-09-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops:
Away: A Novelby Amy Bloom
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2008-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.46
Price in other shops:
The Amateur Marriage: A Novelby Anne Tyler
Ballantine Books; Published: 2006-01-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Runby Ann Patchett
Harper; Published: 2007-09-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.53
Price in other shops:
Sister of My Heart: A Novelby Chitra Divakaruni
Anchor; Published: 2000-01-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Loving Frankby Nancy Horan
Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged; Published: 2007-08-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $33.11
Price in other shops:
The Gathering (Man Booker Prize)by Anne Enright
Grove Press, Black Cat; Published: 2007-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.55
Price in other shops: