The Accidental Tourist: A Study

Chapter 1, 1st Draught Dissertation The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler The Accidental Tourist is one of Anne Tyler’s most acclaimed novels. Published in 1985, in the same year it was awarded by the NBCC or the National Book Critics Circle (a prestigious association of almost seven hundred book reviewers in America), and in 1988 was made into a major film. The title of the novel is crucial, both thematically and metaphorically. In the novel, the accidental …

…particularly given the possibility this novel could be Macon’s own autobiography. The book is both causal and accidental with events leading to others. The too structure emphasises and traces Macon’s gothic progress. The novel’s title, as well as being the name of the guidebook Macon writes, Accidental Tourist, is very appropriate. The accidental is a major theme, as I discussed earlier, and Macon is essentially a tourist, on a journey to self-discovery.