I’m currently reading Anne Tyler’s latest novel, A Patchwork Planet (1998), which continues the rich tradition of the author’s previous 13 books – all of them peopled with eccentric and wonderful characters vividly drawn in the Baltimore scene – humorous, touching individuals who pull you into their thoughts and dealings with others, principally family members. Tyler’s fans won’t be disappointed: while this isn’t a Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, her most successful novel, it is as readable and enjoyable as all the others. Her skill at creating characters whom a reader cares about is unsurpassed in contemporary fiction and reading her books is like looking over the shoulders of understated, matter of fact, ordinary – and yet extraordinary – folk who cope with the dysfunction and tribulations of family and daily life. A Patchwork Planet is, typically, about a man of contradictions whose lack of ambition and youthful indiscretions have caused family conflict. He works for an odd-job company, Rent-A-Back, much to the embarrassment of his mother, doing small tasks for older people. His openness, honesty, basic goodness, not to mention his self-effacing sense of humor and his weaknesses, make him a memorable Tyler character. Luckily, an “angel” has come into his life – just as his father and grandfather have been visited by an angel of their own – in the form of a relationship. I’m eager to see what becomes of him. And his angel.

Millsaps Magazine  |  Millsaps | Last Edited August 31, 1999