What is Ben Dolnick reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Ben Dolnick, author of You Know Who You Are.

His entry begins:

My past year of reading has been dominated by a couple of writers.

(1) I’ve been rereading all of Alice Munro. The non-fiction project that prompted this bout may or may not ever amount to anything, but I’ve been enjoying it hugely and learning a giant amount about what depths are possible within what looks like a fairly ordinary, well-made story. I’ve been reading her chronologically, so I’ve been able to watch her develop in a way I couldn’t really the first time through. She was dauntingly good at 21, but by the time she was fifty or sixty she was just…untouchable.

(2) I’ve been reading Robert...[read on]

Among the early praise for You Know Who You Are:

"I love nothing more than a keen, kind eye reporting on lovably flawed characters, and Ben Dolnick has given me a story and a family to adore. Jacob Vine's journey from childhood into manhood is bittersweet, funny, so fondly told and so very smart. What a pleasure."
—Elinor Lipman, author of Then She Found Me

“Ben Dolnick brilliantly portrays the moment by moment intensity of adolescence, the bewildering adventure of growing up, and the often unbridgeable distance that exists between the world of young people and the world of adults. As the members of Dolnick’s Vine family cope with a devastating loss, they remain wholly believable and achingly lovable. Through Jacob, the middle child, we come to understand that such a loss can take years to fully register, and that recovery is not so much a process of letting go, but of remembering and holding on to one’s true self.”
—Kiara Brinkman, author of Up High in the Trees

Read an excerpt from You Know Who You Are, and learn more about the book and author at Ben Dolnick's website.

Dolnick grew up outside of Washington, D.C., and currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife. He is the author of a previous novel, Zoology, and his work has appeared in various publications, including The New York Times and Five Chapters.

The Page 69 Test: Ben Dolnick's Zoology.

The Page 69 Test: You Know Who You Are.

Writers Read: Ben Dolnick.

--Marshal Zeringue