Publisher, Random House Audiobooks (January 10, 2010)

Listen to an MP3 audio clip.

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.

About the Author: Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is her 17th novel. Her 11th, Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. A member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, she lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

About the Performer: Arthur Morey has recorded or been featured in a number of audiobook recordings including titles by John Updike, E.L. Doctorow, Richard Russo, John Irving, and John McCain. He attended Harvard and the University of Chicago, acted in a number of productions off-Broadway in New York and off-Loop in Chicago, and performed as a singer-songwriter with Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano. He taught performance and writing at Fordham, Northwestern, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has worn other hats in the book business—ghost writing and editing books on politics, medicine, literary criticism and self-help.