Dennis Bock Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Dennis Bock is a renowned Canadian writer of historical fiction, contemporary, cultural, literary fiction, and family drama stories. He is also a reputed lecturer, short story writer, book reviewer, and travel writer. Bock is employed at Toronto University as a lecturer. His literary successes consist of a few standalone books, including Going Home Again, The Ash Garden, The Communist’s Daughter, etc. The former was released under the banner of HarperCollins in Canada, while the US release was carried out by Alfred A. Knopf. It came out in 2013 and became an instant success. After earning a review in the Kirkus Review magazine, the book went on to be shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2013. The second book of Bock’s career, The Communist’s Daughter, also came out under the HarperCollins and Knopf banners in Canada and US respectively.

After this 2006 book’s nationwide success, its publisher’s released it in several foreign countries, including the Netherlands, Poland, France, and Greece. Bock has based this book on the life of a famous Canadian surgeon named Norman Bethune and has described it in the form of a retelling of his life’s final years. The novel with which Bock made his debut in the literary world is The Ash Garden. This 2001 novel describes different types of fallouts from the tragic Hiroshima bombing. Bock’s excellence as a novelist was noticed very early in his career when this novel was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Best First Novel Award in Canada. Additionally, it was nominated for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim award. In 2002, the book won the Canada-Japan Literary Award. It has also seen several translations into international languages and published in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Japan, and France. After the worldwide popularity of his first book, reviews about author Bock’s work were published in The NYT and The Los Angeles Times.

Bock has been associated with Knopf since his debut book and the editor of his books at this publishing house has always been Gary Fiskejton. Before trying his luck in the field of writing, Bock served as a fiction editor at Blood & Aphorisms. He held writing residencies at Foundation Valparaiso, Yaddo, and the Banff Centre before publishing his first work in 1998, a short story collection called Olympia. He received several prominent awards for his work in this collection. The short stories penned by Bock have been featured in numerous literary magazines and journals, including Coming Attractions, Glimmer Train, The Journey Prize Anthology, The Penguin Book, etc. His book reviews and travel writings have appeared in The Washington Post, Outpost Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and The National Post. Author Bock was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada on August 28, 1964. He completed his education from Western Ontario University with a degree in philosophy and English literature.

In between his course, he took a year off and lived in Spain. Bock came back to complete his degree and then moved back to Madrid, Spain again. This time, he stayed there for four years. It was during these four years that he finished the writing part of Olympia and began looking for a publisher. As of today, author Bock resides in Toronto with his lovely wife and a couple of sons. He continues writing novels and short stories along with this full-time job as a university lecturer. Bock hopes to begin writing on a full-time basis soon and use all his energy in focusing on improving his writing skills.

A wonderful book written by author Dennis Bock in his career is entitled ‘The Ash Garden’. It was released in 2003 by the Vintage publication, after its first release in 2001. The lead characters mentioned in this novel include Emiko Amai, Sophie, Anton, and a few others. Bock has set the story in Japan, Germany, and Manhattan. Initially, it is depicted that Emiko Amai was just 6 years old when she was caught in the Hiroshima bombing in August 1945 that left fifty percent of her face burned. It was a devastating experience for her. On the other hand, Anton saw the bomb as a matter of scientific elegance. He is a young German scientist and one of the physicists working on the Manhattan Project.

Anton has an Austrian wife named Sophie. She is a Jewish refugee and sees the bombing as an irreparable fissure that caused problems in her new marriage with Anton. The histories of Anton, Emiko, and Sophie converge 50 years later when Emiko goes to visit the other two. All three of them seem to be far removed from the incident on that fateful day that changed their lives forever. Author Bock has given a powerfully imaginative narration that is sure to make the readers stick to the novel from start to finish.

Another mind-blowing book that Bock has written is known as ‘Going Home Again’. It was published in 2013 by the Knopf publication. The central characters created by Bock for this novel include Charlie Bellerose, Nate, Nick, Holly, and several others. Bock has done the setting in Toronto, Madrid, Montreal, etc. This book is based on a man who takes stock of his life and studies the changes it has undergone. He tries to understand what his real responsibilities are as a brother, uncle, husband, and a father. Initially, Charlie Bellerose is shown as living a semi-nomadic life. He travels extensively to look after the language academies established by him in multiple countries. He undergoes an amicable separation from his wife and moves back to Canada from Madrid.

Canada is where he grew up and thinks of building a new school there. After arriving in Canada, Charlie meets his brother Nate and after many years, the two forge a meaningful relationship with each other. Charlie tries to help Nate as he is going through a difficult divorce. After trying to give himself a fresh start, Charlie longs to meet his 12-year-old daughter, who now lives with her mother and talks to him only through Skype calls. Later, Charlie happens to have a chance encounter with an ex-girlfriend from college. As the two cherish their old memories, both happy and painful ones, Charlie is forced to rethink about his priorities and relationships. He decides to reevaluate things and see where he is standing at the moment with respect to relationships with people around him.