Noah's Compass: Book summary and reviews of Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

Noah's Compass Summary

From the incomparable Anne Tyler, a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.

Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn't bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new, spare, and efficient condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged.

His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is—well, something quite different.

We all know a Liam. In fact, there may be a little of Liam in each of us. Which is why Anne Tyler’s lovely novel resonates so deeply.

Noah's Compass Reviews

"By the end of the novel, the particulars of Liam's life really haven't changed that much, but he is utterly transformed. And so will be the reader." - Kirkus Reviews

"Only Tyler could write such a gently hilarious and wise comedy of obliviousness and discovery." - Booklist

"Starred Review. Tyler's gift is to make the reader empathize with this flawed but decent man..." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. Another winning effort by Tyler; for readers of Reynolds Price's The Promise of Rest and early Tyler novels such as Dinner at Homesick Restaurant." - Library Journal

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Anne Tyler Author Biography

Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis in 1941 but grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated at nineteen from Duke University, and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. She has published seventeen books. Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Tyler is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Author Interview

Other books by Anne Tyler at BookBrowse