Anne Tyler is one of the few contemporary authors whose work consistently attracts both critical acclaim and scads of paying readers. Those curious about how this trick is performed--a category that must include nearly every other writer on earth--would do well to consult A Patchwork Planet (Knopf; 288 pages; $24), Tyler's 14th novel. This new book not only conforms to the familiar pattern the author has established in her fiction but does so in a fresh and engaging fashion.
The central character in a typical Tyler novel is a well-meaning but somehow ineffectual hero or heroine, a misfit who wonders how...
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