‘Redhead by the Side of the Road’ by Anne Tyler

‘Redhead by the Side of the Road’ by Anne Tyler

WHO: Anne Tyler

WHAT: REDHEAD BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, a novel

WHEN: Published by Knopf April 7, 2020

WHERE: The author lives in Baltimore.

WHY: “Heartrending, funny, and redemptive.
“If Anne Tyler’s large-cast, many-faceted novels are symphonies, this portrait of a man imprisoned by his routines is a concerto.
“Micah Mortimer emerged from a childhood in a large family and a chaotic household desperate for order and solitude. Now in his forties, he lives in an aggressively neat and clean basement apartment in the Baltimore building in which he serves as super. He is also the Tech Hermit, responding to calls from people needing computer help. He keeps to a strict schedule, which includes some time for his lady friend, Cass, a fourth-grade teacher, but not enough to interfere with his need for solitude.
“And then, as so often is the case in Tyler’s radiantly polished an emotionally intricate tales, someone unexpected and in need appears and disrupts the status quo. Micah’s catalyst for panicked self-examination and change is a stranger, Brink, a college freshman inexplicably on the lam. Micah dated Brink’s mother in college, but he’s had no contact with her since. What is going on?
“Tyler’s perfectly modulated, instantly enmeshing tale sweetly dramatizes the absurdities of flawed perception and the risks of rigidity. Her warmly comedic, quickly read tale, a perfect stress antidote, will delight her fans and provides an excellent ‘first’ for readers new to this master of subtle and sublime brilliance.”
—Donna Seaman, BOOKLIST

“Tender and rueful…Suffused with feeling and very moving.”
—KIRKUS, a starred review

“Compassionate and perceptive.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

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Knopf.
384 pages. $26.95 ISBN 978-0-525-65841-2

To interview the author, contact: Paul Bogaards | 212-572-2177 | pbogaards@penguinrandomhouse.com