A Patchwork Planet

This was my first Anne Tyler book and, maybe because of that, probably my favorite. Barnaby Gaitlin is destined to disappoint those around him--his parents, his ex-wife, his daughter. He got into trouble as a kid, got divorced, and works in a dead-end menial job helping elderly old people around the house and with errands. Barnaby himself gets satisfaction from his job and the characters he has as clients. He meets a lovely, together woman, Sophia, on a train and begins a relationship with her. His fortunes and status seem to be looking up, but again, not everything is as it appears. I loved this book for the character of Barnaby--a loser in everyone else's eyes, but a winner of a character and person.