Rating: 
Summary: Thought-provoking, but a little too stretched-out
Review: One of the more original short works of fiction I've seen lately, Timbuktu will pull the heart-strings in all the right places. The idea is traditional, dog and man, but the actual storyline is one thought not traversed before. Putting yourself in the place of Mr. Bones made you think just a little bit more, and pay attention to little things you may have never before. The problem is, Auster stretches things out and dwells a little too long on flashbacks and details instead of the story. You don't actually get into the moving plot until the third-or-so chapter. Also, he could cut back on the cussing, not that it offends me, normally I don't mind, but it just stuck out like a sore thumb with all the other beautiful writing and made you cringe a bit too often. Overall, to say personally, I enjoyed it; but, for some, it might not be exactly what you're looking for, and it could be a lot more well-done.
Rating: 
Summary: BELLO, LITERARIO, POETICO ,EXTRAORDINARIO !
Review: ESTA NOVELA TAN HUMANA, TAN TIERNA, ES UN CLARO EJEMPLO DE LA ALTA CALIDAD LITERARIA DE PAUL AUSTER, QUIEN ES CAPAZ DE CONTARNOS UNA HISTORIA TAN BELLA, EN UNA FORMA TAN POETICA, Y DONDE EL MENSAJE DE AMOR SE ENCUENTRA EN CADA UNA DE SUS LINEAS.PARA LOS AMANTES DE LOS PERROS UN BELLO REGALO. PARA LOS INDIFERENTES A LOS PERROS UNA OPORTUNIDAD PARA SENSIBILIZAR SUS ALMAS Y PARA APRENDER A AMAR A ESTA BELLA ESPECIE. PAUL AUSTER, ORGULLO LITERARIO NORTEAMERICANO. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND TENDER NOVEL FROM PAUL AUSTER.A BOOK WITH A DEEP LITERARY,POETIC,FULL OF LOVE,AND WITH A EXTRAORDINARY MESSAGE. PAUL AUSTER THE NEXT NOVEL PRIZE FOR UNITED STATES!
Rating:
Summary: Doggie Dilemmas, Writ Large
Review: Mr. Auster has never been one of my favorite writers. Mr. Vertigo and The Music of Chance are too cutesy--too "written," for my taste. I've always preferred my writers a little crazier, a bit less cerebral, a bit more visceral. My father gave me this book, and I read it because some students of mine in a fiction class were trying to write stories from a dog's point of view. (It was very helpful for the class.) I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, but I had the same problem with it that I had with the rest of his books. He's not satisfied with just getting inside the dog's head (which he does, with occasionally delightful results--"...it was more than just love or devotion that caused Mr. Bones to dread what was coming. It was pure ontological terror."), but then he has to comment on it in the cutesy voice of his close-3rd person narrator: "How was [Mr. Bones] to know that those missing parts had been responsible for turning him into a father many times over?" It's as if he's condescending to his pooch protagonist. Poor Mr. Bones. I felt for him at the end of the book, when Mr. Auster forces him into a denouement that he doesn't deserve. Still, the book has some great moments, and I actually liked the crazy Mr. Christmas, whose schizophrenic monologues are like something out of Beckett.
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: After hearing a raving review on NPR and then reading the platitudes on Amazon.Com, this book was one of this year's biggest disappointments. Mr. Auster knows how to write, there's no doubt about that but his story tends to lag in places. When Mr. Bones was having dreams, why ever in the world did he have to totally rewrite, almost verbatium, the un-dream again? Being an animal lover, I was deeply disturbed with the ending. This book was definitely not my cup of tea. I would not recommend it to my reading group.
Rating:
Summary: Alone in the wilderness?
Review: I'm an Auster fan, and recognize the recurrent themes and Auster-isms pointed out in previous reviews. However, I'm in a miniscule minority (so far just one) when I assert this book not be about men and dogs, but about words and knowledge. How do we know the things we know, and how accurately do we know them when they are described by words? When we read a book, we tend to think the words are absolute in expressing ideas. They are, after all, the author's tools. Mr Bones' idea of the human world is convoluted-not-clarified by words. Mr Bones' notions of what things are is not so clear when all he has to go on is the word. What is Timbuktu? A symbol of heaven? But what if pets are not allowed? Or is it just a dry, dusty little city in the sw Sahara? What is this "vacation" the Joneses are going on, when Mr Bones' only idea is Mom-san's "I'm on vacation" at the end of house chores? There is a word on p 26 used to describe Willy's career: vagabondage. A real word. A word that consists of two words (vagabond and bondage) nearly opposite in meaning, hinged on a third: "bond". This is pretty heady stuff, not unlike the Mirror Fugues in Bach's "Art of Fugue". In "In the Country of Last Things" there is a passage about the deterioration of words, of how they wear out and lose their meanings. This theme is prominent in this work. Then there is Mr Bones. Aka Cal Ripken Junior the Second. Aka Sparky. Same creature, and just as real to each of his "boon companions". What is this three-named creature? Is he any different in any of those identities? This one looks like it's ready for a doctoral dissertation right out of the box. And my favorite Auster. So far.
Rating:
Summary: A beatiful tale
Review: I read the novel in two days and I found it very exciting. Guided by the hand of a great story-teller, the book explores some subjects that are always present in Auster's novels: friendship, loneliness and chance. Original and funny, Timbuktu confirms us that Paul Auster is one of the most brilliant contemporary writers.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, repulsive
Review: I almost stopped reading this book when one of the main characters went mad and began consuming his own excrement. If this doesn't put you off, perhaps you could overcome a natural revulsion and enjoy the author's excellent writing style. I couldn't. Be warned that this book does not end by giving the reader an uplifting feeling. The writing is powerful enough that you won't be able to forget it; personally, I sincerely regret that.
Rating:
Summary: TIMBUKTU
Review: TIMBUKTU is a lovely story about a dog's life and his impressions of the human race.It opened my eyes about the homeless, making me feel less critical of that lifestyle as well as more compassionate. Paul Auster did a wonderful job of displaying the love between a dog and its owner, and the loyalty a dog is noted for. He also made the experience of dying, or leaving this world, less frightening. I will always envision Timbuktu as a pleasant place to be. When I finished reading this very painfully sad story, all I could think was what on earth ever possessed Paul Auster to write this story? Whatever reason he had, I'm sure glad I read it.
Rating:
Summary: Why didn't it make me feel mushy inside?
Review: As a devoted animal lover, I was very excited to receive my copy of Timbuktu after seeing a brief but glowing review in my Sunday newspaper's Parade magazine. I waited to open its firm cover until I had a rainy Sunday afternoon to devote to the book. I hate to say that the book didn't tug at my emotions and pull me into its story like I hoped it would, but that's how I feel. I truly enjoyed reading it but was expecting more. Sure, a few times tears welled up in my eyes, but this book will soon be forgotten in my memory. Too bad! It could have been so much more!
Rating:
Summary: Thank you, thank you, Mr. Auster
Review: Maybe because I have just moved to Barcelona with my golden retriever and started to cry reading this book in a park above the city, maybe because authentic and honorable lives lived in their quietness haven't been described so perfectly and poetically since I read, ironically, "Mr. Ive's Christmas" by Oscar Hijuleos, maybe because once in a while after the disappointments any lifetime collects, it is necessary to read a book about that values the old-fashioned character-trait of trust and applauds the strength it takes to carry on when one is depleted. I have noted at least 5 perfectly worded paragraphs in "Timbuktu," and that is reason enough to read the book. And nowhere have I seen better described the "eyes" that one who has known loss knows are looking out for one from above even though, as Mr. Auster writes, the eyes are "inside" one and that those eyes are "the exact difference between feeling alone in the world and not feeling alone." More than I can find words at the moment to express, my golden retriever and I here in Barcelona thank you for that! Having bought the recently published British edition of the book here with the 1821 Goya painting of the soulful-eyed dog on the cover, I would ask American readers who didn't get the same cover to find the Goya painting on the net. You will be looking at Mr. Bones himself....
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