
Breathing Lessons
American novelist, born 1941. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1989.
Breathing Lessons is a 1988 novel by Anne Tyler. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1989.
In family saga
On 3 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Anne Tyler
- First published
- 1988
- Length
- 336 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- National Book Award for Fiction shortlist, 1988
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, 1989
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Family saga, Love story
Is Breathing Lessons worth reading?
3 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1988) | Shortlist | See the list |
| Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists) (Columbia University, 1989) | Winner | See the list |
| The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of Breathing Lessons
The edition we link to is the Vintage paperback (1992), 336 pages.
- Publisher
- Vintage (paperback, 1992)
- Pages
- 336
- ISBN
- 9780099201410
How critics, prizes and readers rate Breathing Lessons
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 83% of the points available on prize lists, against 7% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like Breathing Lessons
If you liked Breathing Lessons, try Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant or A Spool of Blue Thread.

