The Accidental Tourist

Summary: The story begins with a couple’s fight. Macon Leary, the main character, was having a quarrel with his wife, Sarah Leary, about some tiny little questions, however, this led to their divorce. Macon was a writer who wrote guidebooks for people, guidebooks are shown to people who travel a lot but wish to have a security as at home, but ironically, Macon didn’t enjoy taking tours much. After divorcing, Macon spent a plenty of time adapting to the life without Sarah. Macon then went on another tour for work but his dog, Edward, needed to be take care of; however, his dog had bitten people several times, so no veterinary hospital wanted to give it a shelter. With no times and no patience, Macon finally found a hospital called Meow-Bow animal hospital where he met Muriel Pritchett who also had an experience of divorce, she helped Macon look after his dog until he came back from work . After that, he decided to move back to his old house where his unmarried sister Rose and two divorced brothers Charles and Porter lived. One day, Macon’s boss, Julian, went there to make sure the schedule of the tourist book was all right and at the same time, Julian seemed to fall in love with Rose, they started dating and finally set the relationship. Seeing Edward getting worse and worse, Macon decided to call Muriel for help, they continued some training progress but the effect seemed not so good. Several days passed, Muriel asked Macon for a dinner gathering at her place, at first, Macon was very waver, but he still made it. From then on, Macon went to Muriel’s place more and more often, at the end he moved to live with her. Muriel also introduced her son, Alexander, to Macon, they were quiet happy and get along well. The brand new lifestyle seemed to be great to Macon, however, his family was not happy about this. After a few weeks, Rose and Julian got married. Accidentally, Macon met Sarah on the wedding, and Sarah gave Macon a call after that. They decided to move together again and start the life they used to have, even Muriel got upset. Macon then flew to Paris for work, Muriel was following him secretly but soon be noticed. In Paris, Macon was sick, he could not finish the trip on his own. Rose then called Sarah to help Macon. Muriel was here too, at the end, Macon followed his heart, chose Muriel to live with. Reflection: After reading this book, I just feel weird about what an indecisive person Macon is, because he is a grown-up but act like a teenager playing love games, but on the other hand, I feel Muriel is braver and more mature, because she quite sure what she wants and gives it a try to chase for it, I think although she used to experience the divorce through marriage, it doesn’t mean she can’t have another chance to pursue love and have things that normal people can have. I think the whole book is not so funny or attractive to me, but it indeed reminds me that don’t do the job or stuff that you don’t like just like Macon writes guide books for people, but he does not like traveling, instead he just like to stay at home and do something regularly, which also result in breaking up with his wife. Also, I think to be sure of what you like is not only good for yourself but also can let others know what your affection is. In the end, I really want to emphasize that this book is totally boring and I hope the next book will be more interesting and more meaningful.