The book jacket describes Micah Mortimer as "a creatyre of habit." I think he could be the poster boy for OCD. The book explores his life and his struggles with understanding the people around him, most especially those he loves. Tyler does a wonderful job in this short read exploring the ways we might perceive the world, and try to exercise control. Micah's routines and habits are his attempt to maintain order and the perception of control over his world. But two events disrupt his life and challenge his control - an unexpected visit from the son of an old flame and a call from his girlfriend telling him she is about to be evict. For most of us these would be ripples in a pond but for Micah they will shift his world. I enjoyed this book tremendously. It is at times funny, at others heartwarming and at others a mixture of both joy and sadness. There may be a bit of Micah in all of us as we, too, might fail to perceive the "Redhead by the Side of the Road." ( )

There is no redhead by the side of the road in Anne Tyler's 2020 novel “Redhead by the Side of the Road.” It is just a red fire hydrant that the nearsighted Micah Mortimer sees as a woman when he goes running every morning without his glasses.

Yet his vision doesn't really seem to be that bad. On one of his runs near the end of the novel, Micah slows down when he sees a feeble old man open his car door "with one crabbed hand" before getting inside. He can see a "crabbed hand" but not a fire hydrant? But no, Tyler makes it clear that the redhead has more to do with Micah's imagination than his vision. He converts "inanimate objects into human beings" because of his loneliness. He wishes there were redhead by the side of the road.

Nearing 40, Micah lives alone in Baltimore and manages a one-man computer repair business out of his home. His life is orderly to the point of running at a certain time each morning and cleaning his kitchen a certain of the week.

He has had a series of short-lived love affairs, including one with a teacher named Cass, which ends early in novel for reasons he fails to understand.

Then Brink, a college boy, shows up at his door believing Micah might be his real father. He is the son of Lorna, Micah's college girlfriend. Micah knows Brink cannot be his son because he and Lorna never had sex together, but Brink reconnects him briefly with Lorna. She explains her version of why they broke up nearly two decades earlier. And that leads Micah to take control of his life, although Tyler's ending may actually suggest just the opposite. Is he taking control or surrendering? And is there a difference?

Much shorter than a typical Anne Tyler novel, “Redhead” is irresistible. ( )

I was hoping for more from this Pulitzer Prize Winning Author - but I found the book to be boring, Micah rather dull, the only bright bit was Micah's Family. I know what the author was trying for, a book about a man set in his ways, having to expand his world when the unexpected happens. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. ( )

To quote the Chicago Tribune review “What’s so amazing about Tyler’s novels is the way she ordinary people and ordinary things so fascinating.” An appropriate book for our current time, when we’re trying to figure out how to live our lives in this changed world. ( )

What can I say about this book? I am a library-goer, and all our libraries are closed, so I really need to have faith in a writer to actually BUY a book. It's been a while since I read and Ann Tyler and went for it.
The only review I can honestly write is "meh".
Can't wait for the libraries to re-open. ( )