Anne Tyler’s books are always fun.
Redhead by the Side of the Road takes us along for the ride as Micah Mortimer, a 40-something self-employed IT guy (Tech Hermit) sorts out his life. He likes his life fairly rigidly controlled, blaming a chaotic upbringing for his neat-freakishness and adherence to schedules. His customers love him and he likes his job as long as he can be his own boss. He is also the manager/super of his apartment building in exchange for free rent. He has a girlfriend, a 30-something fourth-grade teacher. Things are stable.
Until his girlfriend calls and tells him she’s going to be evicted from her apartment. He handles that news all wrong. And then a college kid shows up at his house, claiming to be his son. His mother was Micah’s college sweetheart, his first true love. But there is no way this boy is his son.
Micah trods along, trying to do the right thing, coming close but often just missing the mark. He has to reevaluate his own life, and his own shortcomings, to find out what it is he truly values and truly needs.
As always, Tyler’s characters are quirky but relatable. Her storytelling is wonderful. It’s a quick read and hard to put down.
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