Zoology (Vintage Contemporaries) (Library Binding)

A Dictionary of Animal Behaviour (Oxford Paperback Reference) by David Mcfarland 3.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £7.14

We Need To Talk About Kevin (Five Star Paperback) by Lionel Shriver 4.3 out of 5 stars (265)  £4.79

Driving with Dead People by Monica Holloway 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £7.19

Little Dorrit (Wordsworth Classics) by Charles Dickens 4.3 out of 5 stars (9)  £1.99

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips 3.7 out of 5 stars (39)  £4.71

› Explore similar items

Review
'Ben Dolnick is a writer of incredible sensitivity. "Zoology" explores the tricky journey to adulthood with honesty, humour, and generosity.' Jonathan Safran Foer 'As a writer, Dolnick!demonstrates an engaging lightness of touch.' The New Yorker '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 "Ben Dolnick, has written 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 failings.' New York Observer '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 'A quintessential bildungsroman!"Zoology" is a book that drips with the nostalgia of people's early twenties: the soul searching, the thinking and feeling deeply about things, and the falling in love!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 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. He has made Henry an exceptionally sensitive and observant character.' Boston Globe '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 '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, author of 'In Persuasion Nation' '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, author of 'A Three Dog Life' 'Ben Dolnick's "Zoology" is a bright, sweet, sad, fresh, and funny novel, very honest and ultimately quite moving.' Gabriel Brownstein, author of 'The Man from Beyond' '"Zoology" 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, author of 'London is the Best City in America'

A young man finds unrequited love and loses a goat in Dolnick's first novel.When he flunks out of college, Henry Elinsky moves into his brother's Manhattan apartment and takes a job at the Central Park Children's Zoo. When he's not tending pigs and sheep, he spends his time trying to get a girl named Margaret to fall in love with him. He also eats Reuben sandwiches and feels fat. Henry is self-absorbed, rather cowardly and not very bright, and his story heaves fitfully from merely tedious to actively unpleasant. Dolnick makes little use of the zoo and its denizens. It never seems that Henry works at the zoo because his creator made a conscious, artistic choice to put him there. It seems, instead, that Henry works at the zoo because that is where he happens to work, and one suspects that he happens to work there because Dolnick happened to once work at a zoo. To call this a coming-of-age novel is misleading, as the protagonist does not mature in any meaningful way. At the end of the story, he's preparing to go off to college, which means he's back where he was before the story began, and the narrative gives us no reason to think that Henry has grown emotionally or intellectually from his summer of shoveling animal excrement, pining for an unavailable girl and reading The Hunt for Red October. What the narrative provides instead is the image of Henry turning this unsatisfactory summer into an equally unsatisfactory record of that summer. Henry's account of his months in New York doesn't include much in the way of reflection or analysis, but it does include a depiction of the creation of that account. Perhaps it's inevitable, in this memoir-laden age, that writing about one's experience becomes not a method for processing it - understanding it, learning from it, transforming it - but, rather, a substitution for any such process. A disheartening debut. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Gloss Magazine
'...a funny, charming and very entertaining story of love and other animal instincts.' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Product Description

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt

Search inside this book:

1 Review 5 star:  (1) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Animal magic, 26 Aug 2008 By  Phil (Bristol, UK) - See all my reviews This review is from: Zoology (Paperback) Henry is struggling to attain adulthood, and having dropped out of college he goes to stay with his brother in New York, where he lands a job in a zoo and falls in love with an endearing goat called Newman. He also falls in love - in an adolescent way that should be familiar to most - with unavailable Margaret. The bulk of the story deals with his infatuation, how it resolves itself, and what it teaches him about himself, and life in general. This is as good a debut novel as I've read in years. The scenes set in the zoo are lovely, and Dolnick, who once worked in a zoo himself, writes with great tenderness about the lives of animals kept in cages. In fact, Newman the goat seems to act as a symbol for other kinds of entrapment: Henry's, in his immature body and personality; his parents', in their marriage; the disadvantaged, in their menial jobs and in poverty. Dolnick makes profound observations about our lives without ever losing his lightness of touch. He has a real gift for fluent, accessible prose, laced with quiet humour and original descriptions, and he truly knows how to tell a story. The main characters are fully fleshed, and he makes you feel for every one of them: something that so many more experienced writers fail to do. An enchanting and very moving book, and an author to watch out for. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

random brilliance: A list by Mr. J. Maccallum-stewart "pomskua"   SFBK Science Fiction Book Club: A list by Peter Debney   Recently read recommendations: A list by Cherry Trott Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

• Books > Fiction

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
• I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
• I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.