Cover of Breathing Lessons

Breathing Lessons

Anne Tyler, 1988

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.

Acclaimed
  • Critics' Darling
  • Prize Winner

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
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.

ListPlaceOriginal
National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1988)ShortlistSee the list
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists) (Columbia University, 1989)WinnerSee the list
The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015)ListedSee 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.

Critics
7%
Prizes
83%
Readers and booksellers
0%

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.

Lists used on this page