At age 60, after being abruptly laid off from his job as a
teacher, Liam Pennywell moves into a smaller apartment and decides
to settle in to the final chapter of his life. As he snuggles into
his bed on the night of his move, he reflects on the sameness of
his upcoming routine days…and is content at the thought of
those unchanging times. When he awakens, however, he is in a
hospital bed. His head and hand are bandaged, and both ache. No
matter how hard he tries, all he can remember is getting into bed
in his new apartment and preparing to drift off to sleep.

Liam’s oldest daughter, Xanthe, informs him that he was
injured while fighting off an intruder. Xanthe is militant and
outspoken, claiming Liam brought it all on himself by allowing
Damien, his daughter Kitty’s boyfriend, to help him move in.
She insists that Damien is a drug addict who was casing
Liam’s new home during the move and then returned at night to
mug him. Liam does not believe Xanthe’s accusations. He does
know, however, that he urgently needs to retrieve his memory of
what happened to him that night even if the remembrance is
unpleasant.

The fact that he cannot remember the encounter with his
assailant nibbles away at him. He doesn’t even know how he
acted during such a significant event, although his hand injury
seems to indicate that he struggled with the intruder. Even though
Liam is generally an easy-going believer in letting the past go, he
cannot stop dwelling on his missing memories.

Liam’s ruminations on his attack lead him to re-evaluate
his life. For example: How, after being married twice and having
three daughters, has he ended up essentially alone? Why was he so
passive when he was laid off from his job instead of fighting to
remain employed? All at once, he feels like he has lost confidence
in himself. And he continues to obsess over not remembering his
assault.

Since he has a very tenuous connection with a neurosurgeon
having once tutored his son, Liam manages to wheedle his way in to
see the doctor. In the waiting room, he encounters an elderly
wealthy man named Ishmael Cope. Cope is accompanied by a woman he
has hired to be his memory; the assistant murmurs names and other
hints into Cope’s ear as he needs them. Liam is fascinated by
the hired memory and becomes fixated on the
“rememberer,” believing that somehow he can learn
something life-changing from Cope’s assistant.

As Liam’s physical injuries heal, his boredom and
loneliness prey on him. He feels as if he is just waiting to die.
The dullness of his life, compounded with his obsession over
Cope’s memory assistant, leads him to take a risk that is out
of character for Liam --- one that will change how he feels about
his life forever.

Liam is an endearing character whose messiness, disorganization
and lack of focus make him a uniquely heart-tugging everyman. Anne
Tyler’s subtle comedic talents are in full force here,
complete with hilarious details and conversations, as are her
understated observations on the abilities of humans to transform
their lives. Reading NOAH’S COMPASS is the very definition of
pure pleasure. The only problem: Should a reader gulp down the
entire story in one giddy night, or parcel it out in lovely
delicate nibbles? Highest recommendation.