Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is a 1982 novel by Anne Tyler set in Baltimore, Maryland.
The book follows the lives of three siblings: Cody, Ezra, and Jenny, and explores their experiences and recollections of growing up with their mother, Pearl, after the family is deserted by their father, Beck. The novel ends with Pearl's funeral, and a surprise occurrence.
The novel examines how siblings may share the same events yet experience them differently. E.g. Cody remembers his childhood as a harsh time. He blames himself for his father abandoning him and considers himself left to the mercy of an angry mother who favours Ezra. Meanwhile Ezra remembers his childhood fondly and creates a nostalgic family-themed restaurant.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is Anne Tyler's ninth novel. It was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1983. Anne Tyler considers it her best work.
Read more about Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant: Plot
Famous quotes containing the words dinner, homesick and/or restaurant:
“The government of the world I live in was not framed, like that of Britain, in after- dinner conversations over the wine.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I’d rather be homesick than home.”
—Leo Vroman (b. 1915)
“In a restaurant one is both observed and unobserved. Joy and sorrow can be displayed and observed “unwittingly,” the writer scowling naively and the diners wondering, What the hell is he doing?”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)