Zoology [Paperback]

Ben Dolnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007

Zoology is the story of Henry Elinsky, a college flunk-out who takes a job at the Central Park Zoo and discovers that becoming an adult takes a lot more than just a weekly paycheck.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The animal residents of the Central Park Children's Zoo are not the only creatures gently scrutinized in Dolnick's charming debut, a light bildungsroman about shoveling goat poop and growing up. Henry Elinsky, helplessly ordinary, has flunked out after his first semester of college and is living at home in Chevy Chase, Md. Besieged by his father's unrelenting optimism, his mother's unhappiness and his uncle's hypersensitivity, Henry joins his older brother in New York City and takes a job as a keeper at the Children's Zoo. Henry's time in the city is a whirlwind of self-discovery: he cleans animal pens, receives the testy treatment from his brother's rich, bitchy girlfriend and realizes his would-be career as a saxophonist isn't all that promising. Henry also revels in his unrequited passion for young aspiring writer Margaret, even though he knows he and Margaret cannot be together. It takes a family crisis and a monumental error of judgment at the zoo to nudge Henry onward. Dolnick can capture in one surprisingly lucid phrase the essence of a situation, though his narrator's benign travails may not resonate with readers not of the 18–25 demographic. This is very much a young man's book; it will be interesting to see what Dolnick does next. (May)
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From The New Yorker

Dolnick sets his début novel in the Central Park Children’s Zoo, where he briefly worked, and where his protagonist, Henry, finds employment, after flunking out of college. The zoo, a rich seam of metaphor, serves as the backdrop to Henry’s coming-of-age drama. Staying in the Manhattan apartment of his brother’s rich girlfriend, he becomes infatuated with a beautiful tease, while negotiating tensions with his ill-matched, empty-nester parents. The characters—goatish, sheepish, and bovine by turns—stand as both keepers and kept, a problem illustrated when Henry frees his favorite goat for a walk through Central Park and it runs away. As a writer, Dolnick seems to share some of his protagonist’s immaturity, but he demonstrates an engaging lightness of touch.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307279154
• ISBN-13: 978-0307279156
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,600,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, May 26, 2007

By 

fred "the buttha" (san diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zoology (Paperback)

wow, what a fantastic book. ben dolnick has created a winsome, earnest, throughly endearing everyman. henry reminds me so much of myself at times that it's unsettling. and at times, laugh out loud funny. this is the kind of book i'd end up writing if i could, and i suspect there are many people out there who will feel the same way once they read it. especially any thoughtful college-age and post-grad dudes.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, on people and other animals, July 22, 2007

By 

Barbara J. King "mickerva" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zoology (Paperback)

First of all, I'm neither a relative or friend or acquaintance of Dolnick's (and the assumption that he's got relatives etc. writing positive reviews here is a cheap shot). I enjoyed "Zoology" very much. In some ways it reminded me of Jonathan Tropper's The Book of Joe Yet what's unusual about "Zoology" is that Henry is such a well-drawn character that we feel his hope and love, his sadness and his despair, while at the same time we see the world through his limited understanding. I don't think there are loose ends, or plot lines that are brought in and then dropped-- we don't understand so much about Henry's parents' marriage, because what (grown) child does? We don't know the details of his brother's relationship troubles, because Henry doesn't. He's wrapped up in his own life, and he's young and not fully intuitive about others: that's all internally consistent in the book. A real bonus for me was the tenderness with which Dolnick writes about animals-- Newman, especially, but others too. (That an animal named "Newman" is lost by Henry at that point in the narrative is pretty telling.) The idea here is that other animals can comfort us in ways humans often cannot: how true! I've noticed that the Amazon reviews of my own book Evolving God: A Provocative View on the Origins of Religion amount to a really fascinating mix of positive and not so positive. This has made me take notice when critiques seem to wish for a different book than the one the author has chosen to write! Why not at least consider WHY Dolnick chose to leave us with not-fully-resolved issues in Henry's world? Varied opinions, obviously, are the stuff of book reviewing; I just hope the negative reviews here don't turn people off, as "Zoology" has a lot to offer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Debut, July 20, 2007

By 

S. C Sochet "samerator" (syosset, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zoology (Paperback)

Talented writing skills by a young author. His lines are sparse and precise. There are some great observations about inner feelings and his depiction of New York City is accurate. Pretty impressive for someone just out of college. Looking forward to his next offering.