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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780312263997
ISBN number: 0312263996
Label: Picador
Manufacturer: Picador
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: May 01, 2000
Publishing house: Picador
Sale Popularity Level: 226519
Studio: Picador
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Product Description:
Mr. Bones, the canine hero of Paul Auster's astonishing new book, is the sidekick and confidant of Willy G. Christmas, a brilliant and troubled homeless man from Brooklyn. As Willy's body slowly expires, he sets off with Mr. Bones for Baltimore in search of his high school English teacher and a new home for his companion. Mr. Bones is our witness during their journey, and out of his thoughts, Paul Auster has spun one of the richest, most compelling tales in American fiction.
Amazon.com Review:
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.
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 Timbuktu is a bleak one, and even the occasional moments of grace are short lived. --Alix Wilber
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Rated by buyers 
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very touching book. Dog lovers will relate to this book and see their dogs under a different perspective.
Rated by buyers -
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
Rated by buyers 
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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' subsequent 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
Rated by buyers 
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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.
Rated by buyers -
Are you in the mood for something sentimental? How about a book on the sadness of a dog's existence?
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.
Yet, I have to say the story was a bit much for me to swallow. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs (heck, I wrote `The Basenji Revelation' after all) and sometimes I wonder what they feel, think and dream. I had a dog and know for certain that it understood me (I hope not to the degree of Timbuktu's main character). But then the dog died and now I change the radio channel when I hear a sentimental melody which brings forth the memories of us walking together down the street (I still can't get over the fact that my dog suffered the heart condition that eventually killed it). Yes, I change the channel and quickly drain the pan of overflowing nostalgia, which is what I should have done long before reaching the final pages of Timbuktu (Well, what can I say, I love Mr. Auster's writing style).
The story is written from the perspective of a dog by the name of Mr. Bones and follows up with its experiences as it looses one master, finds another, then a third, before it finally succumbs to the desire to escape the pain of its miserable, sickly existence in exchange for the chance to go Human Heaven called Timbuktu (Oh, the beauty of fiction).
If you love dogs and have recently lost one, this book will warm up your heart and then perhaps help you with your grief (although I'm still angry at Fate for the loss of my little pooch).
by Simon Cleveland
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