Morgan's Passing

Written by Anne Tyler

Narrated by Nathan Osgood

As a hardware store manager with seven daughters and a wife, Morgan Gower craves escape and daydreams of who he could be in another life—a banjoist, a science-fiction author, a preacher, a
riverboat gambler. With his family demanding he wake up from his midlife crisis and face reality, Morgan isn’t sure he’ll ever see any of those dreams come true.

Then he meets newlyweds Emily and Leon, who are putting on a puppet show at a local fair, and is instantly enamored by their charm and creativity. They are full of the life he craves. But right
after the performance, Emily goes into premature labor, and Morgan jumps at the chance to be a doctor for the day, regardless of the consequences. As Morgan learns more about the young
couple, he dreads returning to his dreary life and discovers that the best dreams in life aren’t those you wish for but those you make happen … by any means necessary.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781705016282

Reviews for Morgan's Passing

[sblock_16 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved the writing and the depicture of 70s-era Baltimore but there wasn't a single character in this novel that I cared about, least of all Morgan. Much better character development in Tyler's later books.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Impressively written, but not for everyone. Tyler gives us almost no clues to the characters' inner lives except descriptions of their behaviors, which makes it difficult to stay interested in them long enough to figure out a way to appreciate them, to feel close enough to them to care.

I mean, in this one, two marriages are broken up, and in a manner seemingly almost whimsical and definitely impractical. And yet nobody seems upset or even conflicted - and the jacket comments praise the book as an heroic love story. Well, ok - in a way it is - but a reader has to be attentive to figure out how.

[dickmanikowski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For some unknown reason, I've been neglecting Ann Tyler's novels for the past few years. Reading this one reminds me of how wonderfully fleshed out her quirky characters are.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel follows an eccentric named Morgan as he bumbles through his life, putting on one costume after another, one persona after another, in an effort to discover who he really is. It’s not him but the woman who falls in love with him who discovers that, though. A quiet, entertaining read.

[catien_3 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Morgan Gower who has 7 daughters and manages one of his wife's family's hardware store. The beginning of the book showed promise -- Morgan lets people think he is a doctor and assists in the emergency delivery of a baby -- but it took a little bit too long to get going and I had to put it down at about page 40. Normally, I love Anne Tyler's books, but this one just didn't do it for me.