Book Review: Tinkers by Paul Harding

George Washington Crosby waits to die in his living room, lying on a rented hospital bed, memories and hallucinations overlapping. As the last of his days quickly approaches, the story of his father, Howard Crosby, begins to take shape. Howard was a tinker, spending his days selling wares to the mountain folk while spending his free time dreaming up little contraptions and trinkets for his understanding wife. His personal demons begin to take a firmer grip on his life, forcing him to make a decision that casts a shadow over his family.

I'm one of those who learns that something wins a book award and immediately need to find a copy of it. Curiosity, for the most part. I want to know why this book above all others was chosen. With Tinkers, I think the writing won the voters over. It's poetic and prosaic at the same time. The descriptions of nature fit the mold of poetry exceedingly well, with such sentences as:

"A wind would come up through the trees, sounding like a chorus, so like a breath then, so sounding like a breath, the breath of thousands of souls gathering itself up somewhere in the timber...."

The tales of George and his mother finding the doctor's house moving down the street or Howard's interactions with the people of the mountains seamlessly intermix with the descriptions to create something that seems simple and complex at the same time.

My issue with the book is that it read like two stories instead of one: the story of George counting down the days until he passes, and the story of Howard and his life-altering decision. The spiel on the book's back cover gave the impression that George re-visits his past to make amends. But, other than George and Howard being son and father respectively, their stories never intersected -- until almost the very end of the book (but I don't want to give away too many spoilers).

That doesn't take away from the book. I still found it enjoyable as both stories were well-told and interesting. Definitely worth a read, especially if you like experimental writing.

Tinkers
by Paul Harding
Bellevue Literary Press
ISBN: 978-1-934137-12-3
softcover, 191 pgs.

purchased book

Image from My Reading Life.