A Slipping-Down Life (by Anne Tyler)

(Amazon UK link)

On the whole I’ve been enjoying re-reading my collection of novels by the American novelist Anne Tyler. She has a quirky style, with many wry observations that sometimes make me smile. Her characters tend to be larger than life, many of them caricatured, but then some of the situations are so strange that I don’t take them too seriously.

I just finished ‘A Slipping-Down Life’, which I read in 2006. I had entirely forgotten what it was about, but saw that on GoodReads and LibraryThing I had given it just three stars. I nearly bypassed it, but sometimes my opinions change, particularly after more than fifteen years. And it’s a very short book, more a novella than a novel, with just over 150 pages. So I knew it would be a quick read.

Unfortunately, it’s a  rather depressing book which I didn’t find amusing at all. Evie is the main character; she’s seventeen, very overweight, living a drab kind of life with a father who loves her, but has little in common with her. She’s not sporty, or academic, and her only friend is the even more overweight Violet. 

Evie spends a lot of time listening to the radio, and hears an interview with a guitarist known as Drum Casey. She is virtually tone deaf, and finds most rock music over-loud and incomprehensible, but for some reason the radio interviewer inspires her to find out more about him. This leads her to going with Violet to a rock show where Drum is performing. 

All of which could have been quite interesting, but Evie doesn’t enjoy the concert, and doesn’t understand Drum’s songs. But she starts to become obsessed with him, although she’s certain he’ll never notice her amongst the crowds of attractive fans.  Then something happens - something that made me feel squeamish, as if I didn’t want to continue reading the book, but I did keep going. And gradually Drum - who is very self-centred - starts to notice Evie.

And from then on things get worse… Evie is temporarily contented after agreeing to something so unlikely that I couldn’t believe she would go through with it.  But things go wrong for Drum, and while Evie tries to help, she eventually realises they have nothing in common. 

The ending is both depressing and inconclusive. I suppose it’s a testament to the pace and style of the writing that I kept going, but overall I found it a disappointing book that seemed to have little point to it: rather like Evie’s life at the start of the novel.

Not really recommended, unless you love Anne Tyler's style and don't mind a rather depressing read with dull, dislikable characters. 

Review copyright 2023 Sue's Book Reviews