Rating: 
Summary: healing is a worthwhile but painful experience
Review: I have about 60 pages left of the book, but I can truly say that it is a refreshing change of pace from what I see on the typical best seller list (mostly crime/mystery). I enjoy my mysteries, but a look inside the heart of a fellow black sheep does me good/well. The characters are vivid and lovable. I feel better for having spent my time with these folks--much as in the Accidental Tourist group. Barnaby works through his past without even realizing it.
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful reading
Review: what i love about anne tyler is her ability to take a random group of characters and show us how extraordinary beautiful and mysterious the most ordinary life really is. i always walk away from her books feeling like i was able to peek into somebody's life. she makes me reflect on the simple things. i read this book in one sitting. i didn't like it as much as "ladder of years" but it's close.
Rating: 
Summary: what was THAT about ??
Review: I read till the end because i couldn't believe there wouldn't be some kind of surprise ending or moral to the story. There had to be something to compensate for the boring pages. But I finished the last line, closed the book, put it on the shelf, and was left with NOTHING. What a waste of time ! Words, words, words...to no end !
Rating:
Summary: Boring, Boring, Boring
Review: Despite the fact that Anne Tyler has been around for some time, I have only discovered her recently. I was reading books by such genius authors as: Anna Quindlen, Connie May Fowler, Pearl Cleage, Alice Hoffman, Wally Lamb, and to some extent, Kaye Gibbons. Anne Tyler is linked as one of those writers who has a way with words and is a good storyteller.I don't see evidence of such descpritions in The Patchwork Planet. This is a book that I only got to Chapter 7 before I gave up. The book is not only missing interesting characters, but a moving and captivating storyline. There is no plot in the book. Granted, I didn't get through the whole book, and there is a slight chance it DID get better, but I don't think so. I glanced through, and it seemed to me the story plodded on in the same dreary manner. The characters didn't stand out, and even the main character of the story -- Barnaby -- wasn't enchanting enough to cause me to stay. I have Saint Maybe in my possesion that I am borrowing, which is suppose to be one of Anne Tyler's best. If that doesn't enthrall me, then I give up on Anne Tyler. My only saving grace was that The Patchwork Planet was only a borrowed book, and not one I put my money out for.
Rating:
Summary: A waste of time
Review: I started to read this book with great expectation in the hope that the cleverness of the author would lead somewhere. For me, it lead nowhere. I went to the bitter end and was frankly disappointed that I wasted my time. I kept waiting for it to get better and it never happened.
Rating:
Summary: It's not all black and white
Review: Relationships with family and friends are never simple. In fact intimacy arises from knowing someone so well that you see their faults and still love them because there are the positives. In this novel Anne Tyler gives permission to know her characters particularly Barnaby and how he relates to those around him. It's a snipet of life. I love the philosophical ending that doesn't have to leave you with an answer - it leaves me with a thought.
Rating:
Summary: A sweet read
Review: This is my favorite Anne Tyler book. At least it made me smile a lot more than the others. You can't help but like Barnaby and all of the other characters. There are some touching vignettes which show us that we need to take a second look at people who we might normally even want to take a first look at. Of course, that all sounds just wonderful. If one looks closely at Barnaby one sees someone with some very deep psychological problems that are never really addressed. But - who wants to deal with reality?
Rating:
Summary: Her best book yet
Review: I agree with the reviewer for The Times (London), who said this is Tyler's best book yet. It is a delightful opportunity to display her complete range of characterization from the young to the very old. A memorable book indeed.
Rating:
Summary: A book about nothing?
Review: Barnaby Gaitlin is a man you can trust. Or so he says as he begins narrating Anne Tyler's most recent novel. Divorced, detached from his parents and his child, habitually late and with a history of housebreaking - how can you trust such a guy? And yet, here is Anne Tyler to show us this remarkable, self-loathing, despised "nobody" who does "nothing" is also a beloved companion, employee, co-worker and friend. How can one person be so many things? How can they not? A beautifully crafted story of an ordinary person making his own place in this world. Fact is, it's one of Tyler's best novels.
Rating:
Summary: a NOTHING book with NOTHING characters
Review: Anne Tyler does have a nice writing style, but this book is just a bunch of nothing. none of the characters have anything going for them or anything interesting about them. nothing happens. don't waste your time!
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