A tortoise's observations of the human species and much more
by Maxine
Verlyn Klinkenborg, author of other books on the natural world and writer on the editorial board of the New York Times, has created a most disarming tortoise in his latest, Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile. In this wondrous tale or meditation, full of luxuriant language, humor and wry observation of the human species, Timothy in her elder years (yes, it's a female) is resident in the garden of pastor and amateur naturalist, Gilbert White, author, in real life, of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selbourne, the village where he lived.
In a review in the Washington Post, James Sallis says, "With Timothy, he has written an extraordinary book that, like all good art, rescues us from dailyness--from, as Timothy would say, our terrible speed--and makes our world again large and wondrous..."
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