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Barnaby Gaitlin is one of Anne Tyler's most promising unpromising characters. At 30, he has yet to graduate from college, is already divorced, and is used to defeat. His mother thrives on reminding him of his adolescent delinquency and debt to his family, and even his daughter is fed up with his fecklessness. Still, attuned as he is to "the normal quota for misfortune," Barney is one of the star employees of Baltimore's Rent-a-Back, Inc., which pays him an hourly wage to help old people (and one young agoraphobe) run errands and sort out their basements and attics. Anne Tyler makes you admire most of these mothball eccentrics (though they're far from idealized) and hope that they can stave off nursing homes and death. There is, for example, "the unstoppable little black grandma whose children phoned us on an emergency basis whenever she threatened to overdo." And then there's Barnaby's new girlfriend's aunt, who will eventually accuse him of theft--"Over her forearm she carried a Yorkshire terrier, neatly folded like a waiter's napkin. 'This is my doorbell,' she said, thrusting him toward me. 'I'd never have known you were out here if not for Tatters.'" These people are wonderful creations, but their lives are more brittle than cuddly, Barnaby knows better than to think of them as friends, because they'll only die on him. Yet his job offers at least glimpses of roots and affection. Helping an old lady set up her Christmas tree (on New Year's Eve!) gives him the chance to hang a singular ornament--a snowflake "pancake-sized, slightly crumpled, snipped from gift wrap so old that the Santas were smoking cigarettes." And Barnaby himself is sharp and impatient at painful--and painfully funny--family dinners, apparently unable to keep his finger off the auto-self-destruct button every time his life improves. As much as his superb creator, he is a poet of disappointment, resignation, and minute transformation. --Kerry Fried
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
David Morse's reading in a calm, even tone reflects the unruffled attitude of the central character in this story. After getting into trouble early in his young adult life, and subsequently paying for his crime, Barney Gaitlin has achieved a level of fulfillment working with senior citizens. Unfortunately, he is perceived by most of his family and friends as a failure, not having attained a college education nor a high-paying position in a high-profile profession. In a relationship with Sophia Maynard, he tries to find a greater level of stability, partly to create a more suitable atmosphere in which to establish closer ties with his young daughter. Tyler's (The Ladder of Years, Audio Reviews, LJ 8/96) characters are real people recognizable in one's own circle of acquaintances. The bonds and tensions arising among family members are readily understandable. A definite recommendation for academic and public library fiction collections.?Catherine Swenson, Norwich Univ., VT
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
My first Anne Tyler novel - not disappointing!,
By "libertybelle316" (Rock Spring, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Patchwork Planet (Mass Market Paperback)
This was my very first Anne Tyler novel - I picked it up after hearing so many great things about her writing. I was not disappointed in the least. I thought this was a very good book, well-written and touching. The story kept me involved, and was one where you wonder what the characters are doing even when you're not reading the book!There were several times when this book made me laugh out loud - and a time or two when I got tears in my eyes. I will miss Barnaby and Sophia and will always wonder what became of them...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to Anne Tyler's world!,
By
This review is from: A Patchwork Planet (Mass Market Paperback)
No one can create quirky, beguiling, harmless misfits as well as Anne Tyler, and in A Patchwork Planet, Barnaby Gaitland steps onto the page. He's the black sheep of an affluent family, living in a rented basement studio, divorced, wanting to be a better father to his daughter, working for Rent-a-Back, a service company that does household jobs its elderly clients can no longer manage. Along comes 'an angel,' and his life seems to take a major turn for the better. But niggling in the background of this too-perfect arrangement are hints of Barnaby's dissatisfaction - and he can't quite put his finger on what's wrong with the relationship till he's accused of theft. Then his REAL angel is revealed.Wonderful plot structure, wonderful characters, wonderful conclusion.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A quirky book about an unusual young man.,
By
This review is from: A Patchwork Planet (Mass Market Paperback)
In Anne Tyler's "A Patchwork Planet," we meet thirty-year-old Barnaby Gaitlin, a man who has never fit into polite society. He was a juvenile delinquent as a boy. He later married and divorced, and he has a daughter whom he sees now and then. Barnaby has very little money, he dresses shabbily, and he lives in a rundown apartment.Barnaby works for "Rent-a-Back," a company that specializes in doing odd jobs for elderly people who cannot manage by themselves. Since his divorce, Barnaby has never seriously dated anyone. However, one day he meets a genteel and proper woman named Sophia, and it appears that Barnaby may settle down at last. In many ways, Barnaby appears to be a consummate loser, but he connects deeply with his elderly clients and he always goes the extra mile for them. Since he is an outsider himself, Barnaby understands people who no longer feel useful or wanted. In this novel, Anne Tyler shows an appreciation of and a deep compassion for those who live on the fringes of life. With rare eloquence, Tyler expresses the idea that there is a place on our "patchwork planet" for everyone, including those who are a little odd or slightly out of step. How much better our world would be if we opened up our hearts to those people whom society has forgotten. "A Patchwork Planet" is an original and engrossing look at life, love, death and loneliness.
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