Tracey's review
A Patchwork Planet
by Anne Tyler
Tracey's review
A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler
Tracey's review
rating:
bookshelves:
libraryread
This was the first novel of Tyler's I'd read - it's about Barnaby Gatlin, a man just turning 30 who is trying to figure out his life. Although he comes from an affluent family, he works at Rent-A-Back - a company that does odd jobs & such, mostly for the elderly. The book traces his relationship with his estranged wife and daughter, his parents - who don't seem to believe he's outgrown his wild youth, and Sophia, a woman he meets on the train to Philadelphia in a rather unusual way.
I really enjoyed the book - Barnaby was a totally believable protagonist (he reminded me a bit of Shadow, from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, for some reason), and the surrounding characters were three-dimensional as well. I could empathize with Barnaby - I smiled at the subtle play on his name when one of his clients calls him "Bartleby". Barnaby, in many ways, simply does "prefer n
I really enjoyed the book - Barnaby was a totally believable protagonist (he reminded me a bit of Shadow, from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, for some reason), and the surrounding characters were three-dimensional as well. I could empathize with Barnaby - I smiled at the subtle play on his name when one of his clients calls him "Bartleby". Barnaby, in many ways, simply does "prefer n
