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| Plot Summary of A Patchwork Planet |
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"Barnaby Gaitlin at 30 years old feels aimless and lacking a purpose and direction in his life. He has worked for 11 years for the "Rent-A-Back" company that provides services to mostly elderly people that have trouble doing heavy tasks at home. Barnaby committed a string of robberies as an adolescent, but avoided jail time because his affluent parents paid off the neighbors he stole from and sent him to a private "reform" school.
It is a Gaitlin family tradition that each member is visited by an "angel" who appears briefly with a wise pronouncement that clarifies their life direction. Barnaby convinces himself that his angel is a woman he sees doing a good deed in a train station while he's on his way to his ex-wife's home to visit his daughter. He pursues this woman named Sophia on the alert for wise pronouncements. None occur, although they do develop a serious relationship.
As the story progresses, Barnaby wrestles with his unsatisfying family relationships. His observations of his family's interactions are humorous and bittersweet. He is kind and caring in his contacts with his Rent-A-Back clients and grows as he sees them struggle with illness and death. When Barnaby is falsely accused of a theft, his relationship with Sophia is put to the test. This experience clarifies for him what matters most in how he will live his life, and in what he means to the people around him."
Susan Coffey, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Patchwork Planet |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- humorous
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Struggle over
- vague finding self/purpose in life (i.e. no plot to book)
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- blue collar
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- homemaker
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 3 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
Misc setting
- moving train
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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