Helpful Score: 4
I was surprised by this debut novel. The book seems geared toward readers in their early 20s, but that's not to say that people of an older demographic won't be able to relate to this story about the struggle to find one's place in the world.
If this book seems littered with loose ends, I believe it is because we only know what Henry, the main character, knows. He is not omnipresent. What he doesn't see or hear, neither do we the readers. One of the things that I liked most was Dolnick's descriptive power. He has the ability to sum up a situation in one precisely observant sentence.
The author has a sensitivity to his story telling that makes him seem much older than 25. Zoology is at once humorous and sad, in only a way that a coming-of-age story can be. If Dolnick's first book is this well done, then I can't wait to read his next.
If this book seems littered with loose ends, I believe it is because we only know what Henry, the main character, knows. He is not omnipresent. What he doesn't see or hear, neither do we the readers. One of the things that I liked most was Dolnick's descriptive power. He has the ability to sum up a situation in one precisely observant sentence.
The author has a sensitivity to his story telling that makes him seem much older than 25. Zoology is at once humorous and sad, in only a way that a coming-of-age story can be. If Dolnick's first book is this well done, then I can't wait to read his next.
I can really relate to this guy. He is trying to figure out where he fits in this world, and does so in the most haphazard ways. I could not get enough of this book... I think i ended up reading it in one afternoon when of course I had a million other things to do. Thanks, Ben Dolnick, for a great read :0)
i thought the story was okay...was a quick read about a college age boy who gets booted from school, so he moves in with his older brother and his bitchy girlfriend and starts working at the zoo. He meets a cute neighbor girl and that relationship directs his actions for the rest of the summer.
