Rupert Cornwell of UK newspaper The Independent checks in with a Brit's view of Baltimore.
"One way of describing Baltimore among the great cities of the north-eastern US seaboard is by making clear what the place isn't. It has none of New York's size and cultural flash. It doesn't have Boston's conceits, or Philadelphia's chip on the shoulder. It is mercifully free of the self-importance of Washington DC, 40 miles and half a universe away to the southwest. On the other hand, it has everything � including its own resident muse.
In a way, Anne Tyler is an unlikely candidate for that role. Baltimore may be one of the tourist treasures of America. But although most of her 18 novels are set in the city, few of its most obvious attractions feature in their pages."
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