Zoology

Reviews / Votes

'Ben Dolnick is a writer of incredible sensitivity. "Zoology" explores the tricky journey to adulthood with honesty, humour, and generosity.' Jonathan Safran Foer 'Disarming and funny.' Guardian 'One of the most entertaining and promising debuts we've read in ages.' Heat magazine 'Dolnick!is evidently writing about familiar territory. He handles his character's feelings with sensitivity! a sweet tale of middle class angst.' FT magazine 'Dolnick has created a gripping debut novel.' Harper's Bazzar 'Fine writing.' New Statesman 'A controlled, well-paced, enjoyable start [to Dolnick's career].' Literary Review '"Zoology"!will, if there is any justice, become a must-have classic. A heart warming - and at times heartbreaking - read.' Image 'An exceptionally sensory author, Dolnick is one for whom the smells and the shapes of the world take center stage, a diarist collecting moments to be pored over... Zoology presents a portrait of a young man yearning to journey into adulthood through fields of thorny and fragile emotions the size of Jovian gas giants. His turns of phrase ... fall like brilliant autumn colors, layering upon one another.' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'A funny, charming and very entertaining story of love and other animal instincts.' Gloss Magazine 'One of the funniest, most accurate coming-of-age novels I've ever read.' The Tablet 'A highly-recommended novel' Scotsman 'A quintessential bildungsroman! The story is easy and charming, as is Dolnick's language and insights into Henry's particular corner of the world, family and soul! This summer story feels like the good kind of forever.' Time Out Chicago 'The zoo, a rich seam of metaphor, serves as the backdrop to Henry's coming-of-age drama! As a writer, Dolnick!demonstrates an engaging lightness of touch.' The New Yorker 'The transition from childhood to the adult world remains as rich a vein for writers as it was when Holden Caulfield first wandered around New York! Dolnick gives his narrator a struggling, wry voice that carries the tale.' The New York Times 'One of the most striking things about Dolnick as a writer [is that while he is] praised for his ability to evoke the self-conscious failings of people close to his own age, he is an acute observer of his elders as well.' Washington Post 'An impressive effort!Richly related! Dolnick weaves the strands together with daydreamy nonchalance and frank, all-or-nothing honesty that makes situations major and minor alike sparkly and crystallize! "Zoology" gets under the skin by effectively flashing us back to those bygone moments when we realized that happily-ever-after is a myth.' Baltimore City Paper 'The appeal of Ben Dolnick's "Zoology" is in the narrator's voice. Henry Elinsky is authentically adolescent -- likable, funny, irritating, self-doubting, self-obsessed! Dolnick is a talented writer whose understated style is a pleasure to read.' Boston Globe 'Entertaining! Dolnick myst have been a busy child, the language-acquisition of his brain working overtime as it arranged extra grids for picking up signals about the way people talk. "Zoology" is full of wonderful talk.' Bloomsbury Review 'A delightful post-ironic novel!The story is simple, sad, sweet and funny-and saved from sentimentality by a streak of cold-eyed honesty about the ubiquity of human feelings.' New York Observer 'Dolnick's coming-of-age debut sparkles with wit and insightful commentary on the human need for unquestioning devotion -- including that offered by our animal companions.' Booklist 'An honest account of growing up and into your own skin.' Heeb magazine 'Charming! A light bildungsroman about shoveling goat poop and growing up! Dolnick can capture in one surprisingly lucid phrase the essence of a situation.' Publisher's Weekly 'This wise, funny, and touching coming-of-age story tackles the big stuff: love, identity, death, and the limits of familial protection. Dolnick!has crafted one of the most fully-realized adolescent males in recent memory!simultaneously charming, sweet, and powerful.' The L Magazine '"Zology" is a wonderful first novel. It shines a light on that tricky time when you are trying to get a life, own it, make it yours. Ben Dolnick is as funny as he is wise, as honest as he is charming -- and he has won me over entirely.' Laura Dave 'An exciting, confident, and thoroughly endearing debut. Dolnick writes with a maturity that belies his years, and "Zoology" -- distinguished by a rare combination of narrative patience and instinctive kindness -- is a real cause for celebration.' George Saunders 'I love "Zoology". Ben Dolnick's narrator, Henry, is painfully familiar to those of us who have done some serious stumbling along life's road, and he is as engaging and interesting a character as I've come across in a long, long time. Best of all, he makes me laugh out loud. "Zoology" is a sad, hilarious, wonderful book.' Abigail Thomas, 'Ben Dolnick's "Zoology" is a bright, sweet, sad, fresh, and funny novel, very honest and ultimately quite moving.' Gabriel Brownstein