Anne Tyler (October 25, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American author. Tyler grew up in North Carolina and studied Slavic languages at Duke and Columbia University. She earned her doctorate on Turgenev. Since 1965, she has primarily published novels that repeatedly explore the fates of various protagonists from shifting perspectives, ranging from narrative intimacy to psychological distance. Works such as "The Travels of Mr. Leary" have been adapted into films. For her novel "Breathing Exercises," the author, who now lives in Baltimore, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. Critics agree that "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" is her most successful and best book to date.