It had been a long time since I'd read an Anne Tyler novel and I'd almost forgotten how much I like them. I'm always able to identify with her quietly quirky characters (say that ten times fast), but maybe that says more about me than them!

This time it's Liam Pennywell, a sixty-one year old who has just lost his job as a fifth grade teacher. Educated as a philosopher, he never cared all that much for teaching anyway and is coming to terms with his forced retirement. He moves into a smaller apartment in a sketchy neighborhood. The first night in his new apartment he is attacked by a would-be burglar, wakes up in the hospital, and has no memory of the attack. The memory loss upsets him greatly and leads to his quest for a "rememberer". The rememberer he finds opens a new chapter in his life.

The title come from a conversation Liam has with his grandson about Noah and the ark. Grandson asks if the ark had a motor or sails, to which Liam answers there was no need for motor or sails because Noah wasn't going anywhere, "There was nowhere to go. He was just trying to stay afloat. He was bobbing up and down, so he didn't need a compass, or a rudder, or a sextant..."

I would have liked to bob up and down with this book a lot longer. It's a quiet, gentle book but the first one I've read in a long time which I really hated to see come to an end.