Tinkers Review
An emotional, dense novella. Paul Harding packed an incredible amount of life, loss, and adventure into this tidy package.
Follow along the final days of George Washington Crosby (it’s not a spoiler when it’s told in the very first sentence). Witness as we unwrap, then unravel, his life and that of his father’s.
The multi-generational journey is at times a bit of a mind-bender. It features an unconventional structure meant to pull you within the fold; large unbroken sections, and unformatted dialogue blend nearly seamlessly inline between characters. Choices that make “Tinkers” not the easiest read, but the result is like moving through a thick, turbid river, whose water is rich with life and wonder. Not particularly inviting and certainly not warm, but all the more intriguing and engrossing in its uncomfortable familiarity.
She took my face in her hands, which were cold and raw and calloused, and told me to open my mouth.
You must not speak for a week.
I began to say, No, I went looking for Father’s teeth in tree wood and his hair in the stalks of bushes and—but she clamped my face more tightly and said, Stop. Seven days. Your tongue will fall off if you speak any more. It may have been true, for all I ever knew.
This book has taken me time to digest, even with the benefit of having listened to Harding speak in the past on his process and recognizing some of the patterns he touched on: the steady distillation of thought, the percussive rhythm of prose, and shaping his literary music to fit the vibe of the piece just right.
“Tinkers” started as a short story, but it extended over the years as it was worked, and reworked. If I squint, I might guess where the additions were made around that original kernel, but his labor has made any such joinery perfectly seamless.
Author Paul Harding was surprised to win a Pulitzer for this. I think many were since it was an obscure debut from a fairly obscure publisher, Bellevue Literary Press (respectfully)…
Tinkers
Paul Harding
Review threaded in pics🤘
Love a novella that can really mess with you. I’ve listened to Harding speak about writing for a while and always valued his insights so loved finally diving into this to check it out for myself.
#pulitzer #bookreview #booksky #books #litfic
