Zoology - Softcover

Dolnick, Ben

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000725038X ISBN 13: 9780007250387

Publisher: William Collins, 2007

Synopsis

A funny, wise and heartwarming story of a young man’s first forays into love during a long, hot summer in New York City.

Henry likes to think of himself as a promising jazz musician. The truth, however, is considerably less glamorous. At eighteen, he’s dropped out of university, lives at home with his bickering parents, and spends most of his time with the family dog. So when his brother offers to put him up in his New York City apartment for the summer, Henry leaps at the chance to start living the life of his dreams...

In the Big Apple, Henry lands a job at the Central Park Children’s Zoo. Over weeks spent chopping vegetables and shovelling dung, his world gradually expands to include a motley crew of zoo keepers, doormen and animals of every description. Amongst these, the undisputed star is Newman, the zoo’s stoic Nubian goat, in whom Henry confides his growing love for Margaret, the alluringly wholesome girl next door. As the months unfold in a haze of jazz bars, ill-advised romance and hard truths about family, Henry learns what what it is to love – and to lose – in this hilarious, inventive and touching debut novel.

About this title

Review:

'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

Book Description:

‘Ben Dolnick is a writer of incredible sensitivity. “Zoology” explores the tricky journey to adulthood with honesty, humor, and generosity.’ Jonathan Safran Foer

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 000725038X
• ISBN 13: 9780007250387
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304