A Patchwork Planet

Infobox Book |
name = A Patchwork Planet
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translator =


author = Anne Tyler
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country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Fiction
publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
release_date = 1998 (1st edition)
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 287 p. (hardcover edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-375-40256-X (hardcover edition)
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"A Patchwork Planet" is a novel by Anne Tyler. Published in 1998 it tells the story of Barnaby Gaitlin, anti-hero and failure who suffers from more than the usual quota of misfortune. The book is noted for its complement of old people and eccentrics, and its sharply ironic humor.

Plot Summary

The novel is narrated with 29-year-old Barnaby, whose life has gone off the rails since he was caught robbing neighborhood homes as an adolescent. To the despair of his distant father, his social-climbing mother, his chilly ex-wife and his prematurely patriarchal brother, Barnaby now works for a company called Rent-a-Back, doing odd jobs for elderly clients.

He also waits, without much hope, for a visitation from the Gaitlin angel, who first suggested to Barnaby's great-grandfather the invention of the wooden dress-form that made the Gaitlins rich. He finds his angel but perhaps not where he expects.