A Slipping-Down Life

by Anne Tyler

Book Overview

"To read a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love." --People

The beloved bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author brings us the story of Evie Decker, a shy, slightly plump teenager, lonely and silent. But her quiet life is shattered when she hears the voice of Drumstrings Casey on the radio and becomes instantly attracted to him. She manages to meet him, bursting out of her lonely shell--and into the attentive gaze of the intangible...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345478959
• ISBN13: 9780345478955
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

5 star Tyler emerges with this book

This book from Anne Tyler's earlier works, kicks off her greater novels to come. The story of a teenager's fascination with a rockstar-wannabee "Drumsticks Casey" in her North Carolina hometown has a nice flow. Evie Decker is the 17 year-old protagonist and she's just as bright and flawed as all the quirky characters we've come to know through Tyler's writing. I wondered where this story was going plot-wise all throughout the book and for me that's great reading entertainment. This is a good one!

A Likely Childhood

You may find yourself reminiscing about your own childhood as you read this novel. Put your feet up and enjoy!

What the hell was she thinking?

Evie Decker is the daughter no one would want to have, but many people end up with anyway. She pursues the wrong man for all of the wrong reasons, he rejects her, then she marries him. I winced as I read much of this book. The end is a surprising turn of events.

Compulsive reading for any teenager.

I found this book fascinating. Direct and perceptive,it examines the consequences for a lonely, fat teenage girl who slashes the name of a would-be rock star onto her forehead with a pair of nail scissors. What is so interesting is that Evie, the mutilated teenager, never once regrets her action. She only wishes she had taken control of her fate earlier, while Drum, object of her unvoiced obsession and owner of the slipping-down life of the title, lets himself be drawn in by her startling course of action. Every other character in the book, from Evie's sad , widower father to her best (and indeed only) friend Violet, seems drifting and unaware next to efficent and decisive Evie. I can thoroughly recommend this book to anyone. Not a word is wasted or misplaced by the author and the result is a startlingly vivid novel

Compulsive reading for any teenager.

I found this book fascinating. Direct and perceptive, it examines the consequences for a lonely, fat teenage girl who slashes the name of a would-be rock star onto her forehead with a pair of nail scissors. What is so interesting is that Evie, the mutilated teenager, never once regrets her action. She only wishes she had taken control of her fate earlier, while Drum, object of her unvoiced obsession and owner of the slipping-down life of the title, lets himself be drawn in by her startling course of action. Every other character in this book, from Evie's sad, widower father to her best (and indeed only) friend Violet, seems drifting and unaware next to efficent, decisive Evie. I can throughly recommend this book to anyone. Not a word is wasted or misplaced by the author and the result is a startlingly vivid novel