Rating: 
Summary: The underachievement of the contemporary novel
Review: I turned the first pages of Anne Tyler's much lauded A Patchwork Planet with high expectations. On the back cover Nick Hornby had referred to her as America's greatest living writer and various glowing tributes came from other reliable sources. After a few chapters I became convinced that, like John Fowles' The Collector, the first person narrative was a stylistic red herrring designed to draw us into the mediocre mind of the protagonist. However, it soon became clear that this was not the case. Conclusion: Anne Tyler is a mediocre novelist who shines by default, due to the lack of major novelists working in America today. And it is not just America who suffers this fate. I can only think of a handful of contemporary novelists who even come close to measuring up to the great Victorian novelists. Where are the Tolstoys, the Dickens, the Eliots of today? Maybe the novel is really dead, as avante-garde critics are so fond of telling us. I can think of few novels written in the last twenty years that have struck me as profound, insightful or beautifully written. Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth, Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey and Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer are the ones that push themselves forward. In terms of America, I found my stab at Paul Auster immensely disappointing, while Brett Easton Ellis is, shall we say, not to everyone's taste. Only two novelists still living strike me as comparable with the greats of yesteryear - John Fowles and Milan Kundera. This may seem unfair on Anne Tyler - after all, I'm sure she never claimed to be her country's foremost novel writer. However, for those who consider her a major talent, I must question their taste and their judgement. She is a writer of entertaining, if mundane, vignettes about normal people and everyday problems, who is good enough to earn an honest buck, but no more. Genuine literary ambition seems altogether out of Tyler's reach.
Rating: 
Summary: A light confection that somehow manages to stick to the ribs
Review: Although I read "A Patchwork Planet" last Spring,this book comes back to me in lightning bolts whenever I stroll Rittenhouse Square. You can't help but be right there with Barnaby throughout the book, he's that real. The "patchwork planet quilt" aspect of the novel made little sense, however, and I suspect that this is a case where the title was chosen first and then shoehorned into the book like a square peg into a round hole. Regardless, it's still an enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Patchwork Planet
Review: This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. I was gradually drawn to like and then love Barnaby despite his at-first-sight unsavouryness. Best of all, unlike many good books these days which seem to end disappointingly, the ending is absolutely perfect.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting observation...
Review: If you scan through the customer reviews for this book, you will find that a lot of people LOVED this book, and a handful of people REALLY didn't like it. Interesting. These customer reviews always floor me. Perhaps someone should review the entire concept of customer reviews. As strange as they sometimes are, I always find myself reading them. I suppose it is ridiculous to feel as if you should SLAM the people who could ever possibly SLAM a writer as brilliantly gifted as Anne Tyler, but when you check out some of these one-star reviews, you feel compelled to do just that. Ms. Tyler, incidentally can write circles around Wally Lamb with one half of her brain tied behind her back. Oh, the book. I enjoyed it, but I felt throughout that I was reading a written work. I was never really carried away into the story like I have been with some of Ms. Tyler's previous books. She has the amazing ability to transpose the reader into the character's world, to make you KNOW the characters and really care for them. While she pushed my buttons on numerous occasions with the Barnaby character, I never really felt the kind of heart-felt symbiosis which existed with so many of her previous creations. Perhaps it was the fact that she was attempting to give voice to a 30 year old man, in the first person, no less, and that Barnaby's voice never really rang true to me. She did make me cry while reading a book, however, which is a rare thing, and I thank her for that.
Rating:
Summary: Best book read last year
Review: I have read most of Anne tyler's books and I must say this is one of the better ones although I love all of her books. Barnaby, the maincharacter, takes you more or less by the hand and leads you through part of his life in such a realistic way that you can't put the book down. Some passages are very touching, others really funny, and all is very real. I got part in this story and really wanted Barnaby to 'win'. His ways are very convincing. The whole story is very convincing! The way Anne Tyler presents her characters in this book is so realistic, so recognizable. You want the book to go on and on after it stops. I can't wait for Anne Tyler's next!
Rating:
Summary: Real lives of real people
Review: Barnaby is just a guy. We see his life as if it were a piece of reality cut from the fabric of the lives we lead. The story of one person and his attempts to cope with the world as it is with the tools he was given by the fates. For readers of good fiction who know superb character development when they see it, Anne Tyler is always a pleasure. Here again, a life is lived rather than one more tedious predictably plotted mediocre novel tied up neatly for those who would rather not think.
Rating:
Summary: Very moving!
Review: Once again, we step into the lives of Tyler's characters and just begin living right along with them. I really enjoyed these characters and the theme of their lives.
Rating:
Summary: A real book
Review: There are many differences between Korea and America. Family relationships are especially different, so I don't understand the first part of this book. But as I read this book more and more, I learned about Barnaby's situation. He doesn't fight others, but himself. Anne Tyler gives the way of life to us. What we learn from this book is the spirit of struggle. Barnaby overcomes hard situations by himself. I would like to introduce this book to teens and people situated in difficult conditions.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and personal.
Review: I love Anne Tyler. Her characteristics are realistic in their quirkiness and we get to peak in on them. Poor Barnaby. No one is satisfied with him except himself! The ending scene where he is at the dining room table and looks down and sees the dog's "accident" is just too funny and a fitting metaphor for the book and maybe life in general.
Rating:
Summary: Reminds me of Pinocchio...
Review: Barnaby is the little boy who wants to do good and be a human being. But he is thwarted by his own destructive impulses. Mrs Dibble is his Jiminy Cricket, Sophia his blue angel. However, one thing's missing: we all know Pino came from a block of wood, but where did Anne Tyler dig up Barnaby? This guy has everything cut out for him to be successful, but what caused all his early pent-up aggression that led him to crime? His father seems civilized enough, though his mother is probably more than the average pain in the rear. Nor are his parents doting enough to make him a spoiled rich brat. In any case, if readers accept that Barnaby is merely 'different', then the rest of the story holds well. Despite his off the wall behavior, Barnaby shows a good heart all through the story, and not just in the ending. Anne Tyler writes well in her familiar witty prose, but with a tinge of sadness and cynicism that I hadn't noticed in her previous work.
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