false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg 449 26 In <I>Timbuktu</I> 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 <I>King</I>, 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, <I>Timbuktu</I> 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." <p> 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": <blockquote> 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 <I>perhaps</I> hung a thousand dreads and agonies, an unthinkable horror that gripped him every time he thought about it. </blockquote> Once Willy dies and Mr. Bones is on his own, things go from bad to worse as the now masterless dog faces a series of betrayals, rejections, and disappointments. By stepping inside a dog's skin, Auster is able to comment on human cruelties and infrequent kindnesses from a unique world view. But reader be warned: the world in <I>Timbuktu</I> is a bleak one, and even the occasional moments of grace are short lived. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 1344597 1998 Timbuktu: A Novel total:1612|5:276|4:499|3:549|2:223|1:65| 1612 5534 2227 180 895332 0571203299 9780571203291 15 3 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179265103m/895332.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/895332.Timbuktu 5 2 false Sun Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 12:31:06 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 21 18:44:30 -0700 2008
The book is told omniscient narrator, but it follows the life and thoughts of Mr. Bones, a loyal and loveable canine. Willy G. Christmas is old Bonesy's maste...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 1 false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 29 16:41:30 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 08 18:23:41 -0700 2007 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 2 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 12:32:56 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 13:11:41 -0800 2008
I think this is just not a book for me. It is written from the point of view of a dog, and is fu...more...]]> 4325459 0698400909 9780698400900 2 3 3.43 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4325459.Timbuktu 3 1 false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 10:53:15 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 10:54:42 -0800 2009 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 3 1 false Fri Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 18:07:41 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 09:51:23 -0800 2008 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 0 false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 12:21:49 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 15:04:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 2 0 false Sat May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 18:44:59 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 05:14:18 -0700 2009
The story is told from the perspective of Mr. Bones, a dog belonging to Willy G. Christmas, a homeless schizophrenic who has just a short time left to live. Willy and Mr. Bones are on a quest to find Willy's former English tea...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 5 1 false Wed Jul 25 14:37:42 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 14:37:42 -0700 2007 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 1 0 false Tue Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 09:28:35 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 09:28:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 5 0 false Wed Dec 19 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jun 27 12:44:10 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 12:47:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 3 0 false Sun Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 13:55:54 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 13:58:52 -0700 2009
Mr. Bones is the faithful companion to Willy, a possibly-brilliant, possibly-crazy man who lives on the streets and ...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 3 0 true Thu Jun 04 10:59:37 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 14:18:21 -0700 2009
Fionn Regan sang, "For the loneliness you muster I suggest Paul Auster, a book called Timb...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 3 0 false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 16:55:16 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 05:12:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 1 false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 26 13:34:26 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 13:10:13 -0700 2009 Paul Auster has taken a simple idea to a whole other level of reality and in the process has created a work that would transform human perception of the average canine awareness.

Ye...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 0 false Sun Nov 02 07:42:37 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 02 08:35:15 -0800 2008 It was highly recommended by a great poet friend which to me has become part of the story because the recommendation felt like it was an inculcation to a mystical spell without which I would wander restlessly through eternity like I ne...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 3 0 false Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 28 09:40:14 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 16 09:33:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 0 false Mon Apr 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 21:05:21 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 17:50:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 0 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Feb 12 08:30:18 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 28 09:24:26 -0700 2008
The main character of the story is a dog named Mr. Bones, a companion to Willy Christmas. Willy was born William Gurevitch, but changed his name after he was watching television one night and Santa Claus started speaking to him about the joys of giving. O...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 0 true Thu Oct 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jan 07 19:58:58 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 29 12:50:13 -0700 2009 New York Trilogy and Book of Illusions, Timbuktu wasn't at all what I expected. It is the story of Mr. Bones, a dog whose wild ride with owner Willy G. Christmas comes to an end with Willy's death. Mr. Bones is then left to fend for himself and finds his way first to 11-year...more...]]> 449 0312263996 9780312263997 1525 162 3.43 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156917443m/449.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/449.Timbuktu_A_Novel 4 0 false Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Thu Feb 08 15:13:19 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 08 15:13:34 -0800 2007 torrente verbal de su amo han hecho que lo comprenda a la perfección, y que pueda pensar e int...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=449