A Patchwork Planet

About this book

In this her fourteenth novel--and one of her most endearing--Anne Tyler tells the story of a lovable loser whos trying to get his life in order. Barnaby Gaitlin has been in trouble ever since adolescence. He had this habit of breaking into other peoples houses. It wasnt the big loot he was after like his teenage cohorts. It was just that he liked to read other peoples mail pore over their family photo albums and appropriate a few of their precious mementos. But for eleven years now hes been working steadily for Rent-a-Back renting his back to old folks and shut-ins who cant move their own porch furniture or bring the Christmas tree down from the attic. At last his life seems to be on an even keel. Still the Gaitlins (of "old" Baltimore) cannot forget the price they paid for buying off Barnabys former victims. And his ex-wife would just as soon he didnt show up ever to visit their little girl Opal. Even the nice steady woman (his guardian angel?) who seems to have designs on him doesnt fully trust him it develops when the chips are down and it looks as though his world may fall apart again. There is no one like Anne Tyler with her sharp funny tender perceptions about how human beings navigate on a puzzling planet and she keeps us enthralled from start to finish in this delicious new novel.