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Beautiful,
Slow,
Difficult

18 reviews

Tinkers
by Paul Harding

Published: 2009-01-01
Kindle Edition : 0 pages
11 members reading this now
31 clubs reading this now
18 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 10 of 18 members
Pulitzer Prize Winner and New York Times Bestseller

“There are few perfect debut American novels. . . . To this list ought to be added Paul Harding’s devastating first book, Tinkers. . . . Harding has written a masterpiece.” —NPR

“In Paul Harding’s stunning first novel, we find ...
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Introduction

Pulitzer Prize Winner and New York Times Bestseller

“There are few perfect debut American novels. . . . To this list ought to be added Paul Harding’s devastating first book, Tinkers. . . . Harding has written a masterpiece.” —NPR

“In Paul Harding’s stunning first novel, we find what readers, writers and reviewers live for.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Tinkers is truly remarkable.” —Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Home, Gilead, and Housekeeping

An old man lies dying. Propped up in his living room and surrounded by his children and grandchildren, George Washington Crosby drifts in and out of consciousness, back to the wonder and pain of his impoverished childhood in Maine. As the clock repairer’s time winds down, his memories intertwine with those of his father, an epileptic, itinerant peddler and his grandfather, a Methodist preacher beset by madness. At once heartbreaking and life affirming, Tinkers is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, illness, faith, and the fierce beauty of nature.

Paul Harding is the author of two novels about multiple generations of a New England family: the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tinkers and Enon. He has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Harvard University, and Grinnell College. He now lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two sons.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

Do we live on as long as we are remembered?
Are our last thoughts of matters that have been most paramount in our lives?
by [email protected] (see profile) 08/20/16

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

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Book Club Recommendations

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
by Mary A. (see profile) 12/11/16

 
by javier f. (see profile) 08/20/16

Some of the book was tedious. I really liked the ending though. George is reunited with his father at the moment of his death and Howard reunites with his son long after he's died. When does a life truly... (read more)

 
  "Tinkers"by Carolyn R. (see profile) 05/02/16

I had a hard enough time understanding the reviews on the back flap of this book, let alone understanding the book. george is dying and in his last fews days , as he drifts in and out of conscsiouness,... (read more)

 
by Connie O. (see profile) 10/21/15

 
by Cathy B. (see profile) 04/08/15

 
by Abby T. (see profile) 04/03/14

 
  "Tinkers"by Becky B. (see profile) 01/26/14

This book won Pulitzer so I was excited about reading it. I kept hoping it would all come together. I felt it never did. I think it's for very intellectual people that have the time to ponder very detailed... (read more)

 
  "Tinkers"by Jackie L. (see profile) 03/01/12

The characters (father and son) drive this thin novel which is packed with beautiful prose. If you appreciate the beauty of language and would like a break from the predictable "page turners", then read... (read more)

 
  "Don't waste time"by Pattie C. (see profile) 09/01/11

 
  "Must have missed the point..."by Kristen T. (see profile) 06/20/11

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but it still disappointed me. If you read books for plot lines, then this probably isn't for you. If you read for the beauty of the written word,... (read more)

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