Timbuktu: A Novel - Softcover

Auster, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312263996 ISBN 13: 9780312263997

Publisher: Picador USA, 2000

Synopsis

Mr. Bones, a canine companion to homeless man named Willy G. Christmas, accompanies his dying master on trip to Baltimore in search of an ex-high school teacher. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

"What was a poor dog to do?": This story of contemporary America--from the poet- wanderer's life on the streets to the world of "two-car garages, home-improvement loans, and neo-Renaissance shopping malls"--is told from the point of view of a "four-leg", Mr. Bones.

Following his critically acclaimed The New York Trilogy and The Invention of Solitude, Paul Auster's new novel is a sad and witty saga of a dog's life. With the imminent demise of his first master, Willy G. Christmas--on his way to "Timbuktu"--Mr Bones faces an uncertain future as a "lost" dog, an ownerless dog, a homeless dog.

Timbuktu is a tale of what happens, before and after Willy's death: the dilemmas of ethics and affection, of a man and a dog in search of love and friendship. In Mr Bones' dreams, Willy comes back, exhorting, advising, allegorising: "People get treated like dogs, too, my friend, and sometimes they have to sleep in barns and meadows because there's nowhere else for them to go." Like Mom-san, Willy's mother, "hunted ... down like a dog" in Warsaw. The connection is crucial to the novel; its sustained, but discreet, reflection on the vicissitudes of human--and canine--love and hate. --Vicky Lebeau

Review:

"["Timbuktu" is] held aloft with audacity and brilliant, idiosyncratic language. . . . It's risk-taking and brazen energy suggest a writer on the verge of an even more rewarding leap into the air of his own uncharted territory."--Philip Graham, "Chicago Tribune
""A novel of haunted love whose themes loop around one another like glowing coils, connecting gracefully beneath Auster's clear prose, eliciting the fanciful and the tragic."--Oscar Villalon, "San Francisco Chronicle
""A modern parable that invites readers to probe below its deceptively simple surface for deeper truths . . . Auster demonstrates a well-honed talent for illuminating secluded facets of the soul."--Michael Hopkins, "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"
"Lovely . . . Paul Auster is one of our most inventive and least predictable authors."--Jonathan Yardley, "The Washington Post Book World"

"Over the past twenty-five years, Paul Auster has established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature."--Michael Dirda, "The New York Review of Books"
"["Timbuktu" is] held aloft with audacity and brilliant, idiosyncratic language. . . . It's risk-taking and brazen energy suggest a writer on the verge of an even more rewarding leap into the air of his own uncharted territory."--Philip Graham, "Chicago Tribune
""A novel of haunted love whose themes loop around one another like glowing coils, connecting gracefully beneath Auster's clear prose, eliciting the fanciful and the tragic."--Oscar Villalon, "San Francisco Chronicle
""A modern parable that invites readers to probe below its deceptively simple surface for deeper truths . . . Auster demonstrates a well-honed talent for illuminating secluded facets of the soul."--Michael Hopkins, "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"
"Lovely . . . Paul Auster is one of our most inventive and least predictable authors."--Jonathan Yardley, "The Washington Post Book World"

Over the past twenty-five years, Paul Auster has established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature. "Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books"

["Timbuktu" is] held aloft with audacity and brilliant, idiosyncratic language. . . . It's risk-taking and brazen energy suggest a writer on the verge of an even more rewarding leap into the air of his own uncharted territory. "Philip Graham, Chicago Tribune"

A novel of haunted love whose themes loop around one another like glowing coils, connecting gracefully beneath Auster's clear prose, eliciting the fanciful and the tragic. "Oscar Villalon, San Francisco Chronicle"

A modern parable that invites readers to probe below its deceptively simple surface for deeper truths . . . Auster demonstrates a well-honed talent for illuminating secluded facets of the soul. "Michael Hopkins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"

Lovely . . . Paul Auster is one of our most inventive and least predictable authors. "Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World""

Over the past twenty-five years, Paul Auster has established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature. Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books

[Timbuktu is] held aloft with audacity and brilliant, idiosyncratic language. . . . It's risk-taking and brazen energy suggest a writer on the verge of an even more rewarding leap into the air of his own uncharted territory. Philip Graham, Chicago Tribune

A novel of haunted love whose themes loop around one another like glowing coils, connecting gracefully beneath Auster's clear prose, eliciting the fanciful and the tragic. Oscar Villalon, San Francisco Chronicle

A modern parable that invites readers to probe below its deceptively simple surface for deeper truths . . . Auster demonstrates a well-honed talent for illuminating secluded facets of the soul. Michael Hopkins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Lovely . . . Paul Auster is one of our most inventive and least predictable authors. Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

"

"Over the past twenty-five years, Paul Auster has established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature." --Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books

"[Timbuktu is] held aloft with audacity and brilliant, idiosyncratic language. . . . It's risk-taking and brazen energy suggest a writer on the verge of an even more rewarding leap into the air of his own uncharted territory." --Philip Graham, Chicago Tribune

"A novel of haunted love whose themes loop around one another like glowing coils, connecting gracefully beneath Auster's clear prose, eliciting the fanciful and the tragic." --Oscar Villalon, San Francisco Chronicle

"A modern parable that invites readers to probe below its deceptively simple surface for deeper truths . . . Auster demonstrates a well-honed talent for illuminating secluded facets of the soul." --Michael Hopkins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Lovely . . . Paul Auster is one of our most inventive and least predictable authors." --Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador USA
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312263996
• ISBN 13: 9780312263997
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 181