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A Patchwork Planet
A Patchwork Planet
Author: Anne Tyler
In this, her fourteenth novel--and one of her most endearing--Anne Tyler tells the story of a lovable loser who's trying to get his life in order. — Barnaby Gaitlin has been in trouble ever since adolescence. He had this habit of breaking into other people's houses. It wasn't the big loot he was after, like his teenage cohorts. It was...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780449003985
ISBN-10: 0449003981
Publication Date: 2/22/1999
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 80

3.5 stars, based on 80 ratings
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 21 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Anything by Anne Tyler is irresistible reading. One gets caught up in her elegant phrasing, so unusual with today's faster-paced style. Her heroes live on the edge of main stream America, caught up in daily struggles familiar to us all--often chaotic and character revealing. This novel is about 30-year-old misfit Barnaby Gaitlin, "a renegade who is actually a kind-hearted man struggling to find his place in the world."
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 128 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
There are times you may say to yourself "WHY am I reading this book?", but stick with it, it's excellent. Just getting to know this extraordinary, yet ordinary guy...from a rich, yet poor family, doing something so sweet he doesn't even realize it... but it all works out and then some.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 166 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
The story of a lovable loser who's trying to get his life in order. I don't identify enough with lovable losers - especially men - and especially those who used to break into houses - to really feel pulled into this story. But I love Anne Tyler's writing and if anyone could make me care about a guy with a history like that, it would be her. And so I enjoyed it, and pulled for the guy to make it to a better place...
cay avatar reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 63 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Barnaby Gaitlin is just trying to get his life in order. But he has a habit of breaking into other people's houses so he can read their mail and gather one or two momentos. Anne Tyler has a knack for creating memorable,loveable, yet flawed characters and this book is no exception. I hope you like it as much as I do.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 36 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Anne Tyler's 14th novel: Barnaby Gaitlin breaks into other people's houses. He likes to read their mail, pore over their photo albums, etc. Now he works for Rent-a-Back. This is a great book to read.
Read All 38 Book Reviews of "A Patchwork Planet"

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reviewed A Patchwork Planet on
An enjoyable read. Ann Tyler masterfully weaves believable, realistic characters, an unusual setting, and arouses the readers curiosity. I found it to be a captivating story that holds interest. Well done.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 12 more book reviews
Anything by Anne Tyler is a treat. The hero of this novel is a young adult who, according to his parents and ex-wife has no goals and aspirations, but somehow manages to touch the lives of the elderly people who are his clients. One of my favorite fictional characters.
wantonvolunteer avatar reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 84 more book reviews
I've had this book a long time, I'm a fan of Anne Tyler and her silly word play, but I think I put off reading this as I don't like the title. The story is cute, Barnaby Gaitlin is the black sheep of his well to do family, he was a juvenile delinquent and is now underachieving in his mid-30s (living in somebody's basement and providing manual labor for a small operation called Rent A Back).

The phrase patchwork planet refers to an ugly quilt design created by a favorite client, it only comes up once and briefly and I don't really get why it's the title of the book. Maybe Barnaby's mind operates in a somewhat patchwork-y fashion? I love his snarky "Old Baltimore" family, and identify with his older, managerial girlfriend Sophia.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 247 more book reviews
An interesting book taken from a man's viewpoint. It was an absorbing read.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 205 more book reviews
very good
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 17 more book reviews
Wonderful characters and their relationships. Family conflicts and remaking meaningful connections, self-discovery and redemptions are the strengths of Anne Tyler that make me return again and again to enjoy her novels.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on
Anne Tyler has written another winner!
jerslp avatar reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 7 more book reviews
This booke is funny and sweet and heartwarming as it tells to tale of an eccentric misfit who is a hero in small every day ways.
ruthviola avatar reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 3 more book reviews
It was an interesting story, kept my attention until the end, but very unsatisfying and often irritating.

I had trouble liking the protagonist all the way through. There were times I could feel sympathetic toward him, and other times when I was angry with him. And the ending was really loose. Do Barnaby and Sophia work out their differences? Do Barnaby and his mother finally get along?
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 6 more book reviews
Very fun for those dealing with moving elderly or running all their errands - very fun book.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 132 more book reviews
Another captivating work by Anne Tyler. Seh does indeed have a way with words that made me keep reading even though I'd read it before.
reviewed A Patchwork Planet on + 275 more book reviews
Anne Tyler books are a treat and this one is no exception.


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