Rating: 
Summary: an innovative take on the human condition
Review: This may not be Auster's most perfect novel, but he does such a good job with his characters that the book does have that quality of staying with you long after you close the last page. Even if you're not a dog lover, you have to relate to the way animals sometimes seem to understand just what we are saying. I agree that some of the middle of the book got stale, but several of the younger kids are well drawn which brought the interest right back. Even though the book seems like a light comedy at first, Auster has that knack of approaching world problems like homelessness, drugs, craziness, all through the back door, in this case, the comments of Mr. Bones, Willy's dog. It's quite a short book and probably would have made a better short story than a short novel, but still, I enjoyed it and found Auster's writing excellent.
Rating:
Summary: A miss by a master
Review: Paul Auster is generally a master of his craft - using language well. This book is no exception. However, this is a book that reads as if it were crafted rather than grown out of the characters. Willie, as a homeless, mentally ill individual, is developed as a realistic character avoiding many of the cliches that are ascribed to such a character. However, none of the characters Mr. Bones meets after Willie's death are more than cardboard characters.As for Mr. Bones himself, each reader will have a private opinion as to how well the dog is portrayed - an opinion based on the reader's presuppositions about dogs. That is to say that the author does not develop Mr. Bones in a manner to cause the reader to suspend disbelief if the portrayal is significantly different from the reader's opinions on dogs. Nevertheless, the book is an enjoyable read - and a reasonable reread - especially for dog lovers. But if you've not read Paul Auster before, this is not the book on which you should judge the quality of his work.
Rating:
Summary: Doggone Good
Review: Do you talk to your dog and think he or she knows what you are saying? Yes? Then you'll probably like this tender, funny story told by a dog. As for the reader who says 'no,' well, perhaps this is not an appropriate book. Uneven writing (seems to drag a bit in the last third), but the best parts are so splendid, it's easy to shrug off the faults. The dog voice alone is a great delight. Great gift for a dog-lover, an absolute "must" for anyone who used to use O'Dell's Hair Trainer.
Rating: 
Summary: Enter a dogs mind....
Review: I loved this book...being an animal lover, this book puts you into a dogs mind. It makes you really wonder what animals think and how they interpret what humans say. Excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Warm-hearted and Entertaining
Review: Mr. Bones, the canine protagonist of Timbuktu, has, for the past nine years, been the trusty (and trusted) companion of Willy G. Christmas, a drunken, schizoid, vagabond poet who was born William Gurevitch in November 1947, the only child of Polish-Jewish immigrants. Auster fans will recognize Willy as a reworking of the heroes of Moon Palace and Music of Chance: a Booklyn-born, Columbia-educated child of the 50s. After Willy torpedoes his budding literary career with drugs and suffers "the schizo flip-out of 1968," he experiences an epiphany: Santa Claus, himself speaks to him directly via his television telling him "to embody the mission of Christmas every day of the year, to ask nothing from the world and give it only love in return." Willy takes this commandment so seriously that he and Mr. Bones are soon almost bankrupt. When Willy finds himself mortally ill, he collects his seventy-four notebooks, filled with "poems, stories, essays, diary entries, epigrams, autobiographical musings, and the first 1800 lines of an epic in progress," and, with Mr. Bones in tow, sets out for 316 Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland, the home of Mrs. Bea Swanson. Mrs. Swanson, the one teacher who actually encouraged Willy, has now become Willy's designated recipient of both the notebooks and Mr. Bones. But Willy dies en route, leaving Mr. Bones to fend for himself. Mr. Bones evades both dog catchers and a group of wayward boys and is befriended by the gentle-but-luckless eleven year old, Henry Chow, before landing in the lap of bourgeois luxury in rural Virginia. For a time, things couldn't seem better, thinks Mr. Bones, but, like all perfect times, this one, too, comes to an end. Like other Auster books, Timbuktu owes a debt to the author's previous works. There is a hip jocularity and distinct Americaness about this book that is evocative of Mr. Vertigo. Willy's logomaniacal speeches at the beginning of the book are energizing but intrusive and detract from the warm connection Mr. Bones feels for his master. Mr. Bones, himself, is given a more familiar Austerian voice that is crisp and fast-flowing. Timbuktu is devoid of satire, magic realism and political and social statements of any kind, all to Auster's credit. It eschews existential problems such as those encountered by Franz Kafka's canine narrator in Investigations of a Dog. Timbuktu's theme seems to be spiritual longing, connectedness and the search for something better than what we already possess. Auster, usually an outstanding writer, fails to fulfill the promises he makes with Timbuktu. Although Mr. Bones is a joy, Auster doesn't give this wonderful dog free enough rein and the book suffers for it. It could have been, and should have been, so much more. The German historian, Saul Friedlander, has written that kitsch and death are the new religions of our day. Perhaps Auster tried to symbolize their union in Timbuktu. If so, he should have just stuck with Mr. Bones, a genuine winner in every way. For those seeking great literature or a book offering deeply-satisfying, life-enriching themes, Timbuktu would be a poor choice. But for those simply looking for a light, warm-hearted story and a few hours of pure entertainment (as I was), Timbuktu will no doubt more than suffice.
Rating:
Summary: A Fairytale for today
Review: 'Timbuktu' seems to me to be essentially a modern fairytale. The ending is pure Hans Andersen - reminded me of 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Little Matchgirl'. As a dog lover, I was totally captivated by the character of Mr Bones, and was delighted to view the world through his eyes. The use of language in this book is immaculate - exactly the right word chosen, again and again. It does have a thread of sentimentality, however. Nothing really bad happens to Mr Bones, compared to the fate of actual dogs in this situation. The hint of satire in the oh-so-comfortable middle class family is down played, with likeable people overcoming their lifestyle - which would have had the dog's original owner completely outraged. Indeed, his ghost voice makes his feelings all too clear. A book that I think will endure, and find readers for many years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Endearing and sweet
Review: Mr. Bones the dog and Willy the man, with a number of supporting characters, create this jambalaya of a reality check. Auster takes us through the backstreets of the United States and through the mapless streets of Willy's mind. Mr. Bones talks to us, consoles us and opens our hearts to the deep capacities of love, loyalty, and literally undying friendship. It is just that in this story the core of such sincerity is surrounded by unyielding madness. This is a quick read but don't underestimate time for satisfaction. It's a cure that hits the spot for a one or two afternoon dose of renewed faith in our vital and enduring tribal connection.
Rating:
Summary: Endearing and sweet
Review: Mr. Bones the dog and Willie the man, with a number of supporting characters, create this jambalaya of a reality check. Auster takes us through the backstreets of the United States and through the mapless streets of Willie's mind. Mr. Bones talks to us, consoles us and opens our hearts to the deep capacities of love, loyalty, and literally undying friendship. It is just that in this story the core of such sincerity is surrounded by unyielding madness. This is a quick read but don't underestimate time for satisfaction. It's a cure that hits the spot for a one or two afternoon dose of renewed faith in our vital and enduring tribal connection.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: I picked up this book on the strength of the cover and the backcover information. Having never read this author before, I had no preconceived ideas of what to expect. I loved the author's play with words - like a musical riff in places. Being an animal lover and owner of a formerly homeless dog I felt the author must have been a dog in a former life. What Mr. Bones experiences does tell us mountains about humans and humanity and love - I can look in my dog's eyes and see those same thoughts. The transitions were abrupt and difficult to accept, but life is like that. The ending was fitting and one not to be forgotten soon.
Rating: 
Summary: More cliches than Carter has pills!
Review: Paul Auster has written some excellent novels. "Timbuktu" ain't one of them. The book is so cliche-ridden one gets the idea that Auster fed his story-idea into a computer and then let some novel-writing software do the rest of the work. The opening line contains a cliche: Mr. Bones knew that Willy wasn't long for this world. There are three more in just the next five lines of the book ("a chance in hell," "a turn for the better," "had assumed a life of its own.") And it only gets worse from there. Even more disappointing than Auster's writing is his story. At one point Auster derides the practice of having dogs neutered. A kindly character speaks deprecatingly of this practice while an unsympathetic one defends it. This is particularly curious since Auster's dog protagonist is chained up in a yard by this point in the book and will probably never get another chance to procreate. Neutering seems downright humane in this instance. The world is not a kind place for unwanted strays, and Mr. Bones has already produced more unwanted offspring than he can remember. The book lacks any sort of internal logic. The dog supposedly understands English, but he is totally baffled when he encounters a child with an animal nickname ("tiger") or hears a kid in Baltimore discussing a team of Orioles. The dog has no idea what it means for a pet to be "fixed." But throughout the book the dog displays knowledge of things that he shouldn't be able to know anything about: airplane baggage compartments, for instance (he has been living with a penniless vagabond all his life, a man without even a car, much less a frequent-flier card). But Auster's worst crime is that his book appears to endorse suicide as a solution to wholly temporary problems (sickness, separation from loved ones). A reader can only wish that Auster had euthanized this dog of a book rather than turn it loose on the world.
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