Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45496 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.com
In Timbuktu Paul Auster tackles homelessness in America using a dog as his point-of-view character. Strange as the premise seems, it's been done before, in John Berger's King, and it actually works. Filtering the homeless experience through the relentlessly unsentimental eye of a dog, both writers avoid miring their tales in an excess of melodrama. Whereas Berger's book skips among several characters, Timbuktu remains tightly focused on just two: Mr. Bones, "a mutt of no particular worth or distinction," and his master, Willy G. Christmas, a middle-aged schizophrenic who has been on the streets since the death of his mother four years before. The novel begins with Willy and Mr. Bones in Baltimore searching for a former high school English teacher who had encouraged the teenage Willy's writerly aspirations. Now Willy is dying and anxious to find a home for both his dog and the multitude of manuscripts he has stashed in a Greyhound bus terminal. "Willy had written the last sentence he would ever write, and there were no more than a few ticks left in the clock. The words in the locker were all he had to show for himself. If the words vanished, it would be as if he had never lived."

Paul Auster is a cerebral writer, preferring to get to his reader's gut through the brain. When Willy dies, he goes out on a sea of words; as for Mr. Bones, this is a dog who can think about metaphysical issues such as the afterlife--referred to by Willy as "Timbuktu":

What if no pets were allowed? It didn't seem possible, and yet Mr. Bones had lived long enough to know that anything was possible, that impossible things happened all the time. Perhaps this was one of them, and in that perhaps hung a thousand dreads and agonies, an unthinkable horror that gripped him every time he thought about it.

From Library Journal
Meet discerning and sympathetic Mr. Bones, a dog who is unconditionally faithful to his troubled master, Willy G. Christmas. Auster's leading human character is once again a tormented writer from Brooklyn who blindly believes in his ideals and willingly chooses to become a vagabond (see, for instance, Leviathan, LJ 7/92). But the real hero is the four-legged creature who follows him on his impromptu journeys and leads readers through the story. Yes, he thinks and he understands, and although he cannot speak, he keenly observes and contemplates the questionable logic of human behavior. The beginning of the story is promising; the middle gets suspiciously trivial but is rescued by a clever and moving ending. This is not the kind of work Auster has been praised for, but it proves his hunger for innovation once again. Timbuktu will undoubtedly provoke mixed responses, but that is the price of originality. There is something plain yet mysteriously intricate beneath Auster's trademark smooth writing.
-AMirela Roncevic, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Jim Shepard
Ultimately ... Timbuktu is much smarter than either of its seekers of wisdom, and there are periodic flashes of gorgeous prose to prove it.

Customer Reviews

Sweet and believable
Everyone who shares their life with a dog has undoubtedly wondered how cognizant their canine friend is. How much can a dog reason? How much do they truly understand? Many times, writers anthropomorphize animals making their narratives unbelievable and outlandish. This is not the case with Paul Auster's Timbuktu, which follows a short time in the life of old dog: Mr. Bones.

Mr. Bones is the companion of Willy G. Christmas, a homeless poet of questionable mental health. But Willy is sick and soon Mr. Bones's life will change irrevocably. Auster tells the story from Mr. Bones's point of view, taking into consideration all the things most important to our canine companions, and never crossing over into the unbelievability of over-anthropomorphizing.

A lovely read.

- C.A.Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail

A Charming Novel By An Unpredictable Author
I absolutely admire Paul Auster because whenever I pick up one of his books, I totally have no idea what to expect. You've surely noticed how some authors basically tell the same story over and over again? Not Auster. I've read quite a few of his works by now, and while he has similar themes delving into aspects of humanity, he delivers each and every one of said themes in a totally original and captivating manner.

Timbuktu is unlike anything I thought Auster capable of writing. Our narrator and protagonist is Mr. Bones, a through-and-through mutt owned by a delusional and kind-hearted vagabond named Willy. We see life through Mr. Bones' eyes, and Auster does a magnificent job of breaking we humans down to our most essential characteristics. Mr. Bones sees life as it is, and sees us for who we are.

The story took a while to heat up because Willy proclaimed early on that death awaited him. The only problem was, while death certainly awaited him, I got irritated waiting for Willy to finally die so that Mr. Bones' next step in life could begin. Once Willy headed for Timbuktu and Mr. Bones blazed a new trail in the world, I could hardly put the book down.

Again, I can hardly believe the man who wrote The New York Trilogy, an utterly experimental and complex work, also wrote Timbuktu, a short novel told to us from the experiences of a dog.

Auster is a true artist, a man willing to write whatever he wants despite externally imposed conventions, and I dare you to resist the warmth and charm of this story and Mr. Bones. Furthermore, I challenge you to keep a dry eye on the last page.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Well Intentioned, but Poorly Executed
There is no question that Auster is a talented writer, but Timbuktu fails to add anything to his previous work. The word play is common and sometimes embarassingly obvious (as when the protagonist's owner turns Santa into Satan, or Dog into God), and much of the story feels improvised. In more than a few places you have to wonder if Auster knew where he was going at all. Still, much of the story is entertaining, and if you are able to get past the idea of a story told from inside the mind of a stray dog you may very well enjoy this book. For me it was a little bit predictable in its themes (there is more to life than material possessions among others) and felt front-heavy in its pacing.

Bottom line: If you are new to Auster, read the New York Trilogy instead.