''Tinkers'' is a 2009

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

by American author Paul Harding. The novel tells the stories of George Washington Crosby, an elderly clock repairman, and of his father, Howard. On his deathbed, George remembers his father, who was a tinker selling household goods from a donkey-drawn cart and who struggled with

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

.Tinkers
at Bellevue Literary Press The novel was published by

Bellevue Literary Press Bellevue Literary Press (BLP) is an American publisher. It was founded in 2007 as a sister organization of Bellevue Literary Review, located at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. It became an independent nonprofit in 2018. According to their we ...

, a sister organization of the

Bellevue Literary Review ''Bellevue Literary Review'' (''BLR'') is an independent literary journal that publishes fiction, nonfiction and poetry about the human body, illness, health and healing. It was founded in 2001 in Bellevue Hospital and was published by the Divisi ...

. ''Tinkers'' won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and other awards and honors. The Pulitzer board called the novel "a powerful celebration of life in which a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

father and son, through suffering and joy, transcend their imprisoning lives and offer new ways of perceiving the world and mortality."Pulitzer Prize Fiction 2010
Pulitzer.org Tinkers follows George Crosby in the days before he dies and his memories from his childhood. The book takes you through both George's life as well as his father's, Howard, who sells home goods from a wagon in New England. You learn about George's skill at fixing clocks which becomes a metaphor for life's beauty as well as its fragility. It is about Howard's struggle with epilepsy as well as his own relationship with his father who was a minister who fell ill when Howard was a boy. It is a novel that is not only about death but the gift of simple pleasures of nature and being in the world. It is about fathers and sons, solitude and connection.

Reviews

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' praised "a writer hodescribes something so well—snow, oranges, dirt—that you can smell it or feel it or sense it in the room." ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' enjoyed Harding's "skillful evocation ndmosaic of memories". ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' called the novel a "poignant exploration of where we may journey when the clock has barely a tick or two left and we really can't go anywhere at all." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' failed to review the novel before the Pulitzer Prize announcement, noting that it was the first novel since ''

A Confederacy of Dunces ''A Confederacy of Dunces'' is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which reached publication in 1980, eleven years after Toole's death. Published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a foreword) ...

'' in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

to come from a small publisher and win that award."The One That Got Away"
''The New York Times'' Papercuts blog, April 12, 2010

Awards and honors

*2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, winner *2010 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, winner *2010 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, shortlist *2010 Best Novels of 2009 by

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

and

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

The Literary Horologist: Paul Harding “Tinkers” With Time
OpenLoopPress interview *2010 Best Books of 2009 by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and the '' Library Journal''

Editions

*''Tinkers'', New York : Bellevue Literary Press, 2009. (hardcover)

Notes

External links

"Word of mouth helped propel Mass. novelist to Pulitzer"
By Geoff Edgers, ''

'', April 15, 2010
Photos of the first edition of Tinkers
{{PulitzerPrize Fiction 2001–2025 2009 American novels 2009 debut novels Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning works Epilepsy English-language books Novels set in Maine Bellevue Literary Press books