Dinosaurs is a slim book, easily entered to be read slowly. It is full of metaphors and the book's unfolding itself becomes one for its protagonist, Gil. It's seemingly telling a simple tale without embellishment which resembles Gil's world view as we meet him at 45, only
…more to subtly and gradually reveal the layers of a man, a community, relationships with other humans and with a newly engaging natural world. Each chapter is titled with the name of a bird whose characteristics are also present in people or events in Gil's life and provide great meaning. Literally walking from his former home in NYC to the one he bought sight unseen in Phoenix is an attempt to immerse himself in what he imagines is "real life",from which his inherited wealth has shielded him. Encumbered by a bad breakup, he has left behind only two friendships with meaning, which add poignancy and reveal that he isn't the only person giving of himself in his "career" of volunteering. His newly arrived neighbors live in a house with the facing wall made of glass. He sees how a family lives, loves and disappoints. To his surprise and delight he becomes part of this family, mentoring- really parenting- the middle school child who has his own socialization issues. Gil's musings about how most dinosaurs became extinct except those who could evolve into birds, and his commitment to the birds he sees around his new desert home become meditations on environment and potential extinction. He becomes their protector when he sees pointless and widescale shooting of those to whom he has become attached. It is perhaps a metaphor too far when he dons a bat costume on Halloween and ventures out to solve the crime. A thread of the story concerns the drunk driver who killed his parents when he was very young, revealing more about Gil and the world, and exploring the concept of closure. I recommend this book to those readers who wish to join Gil in his musings about nature, relationships and the human condition and I hope that is many people. (less)
