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Benjamin S. Grossberg

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Genre

Poetry, Gay and Lesbian, Fiction

Member Since

November 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/beng

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Benjamin S. Grossberg's latest collection of poetry, My Husband Would (University of Tampa Press, 2020), won the 2021 Connecticut Book Award in poetry and was a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year. His other collections include Space Traveler (University of Tampa Press, 2014) and Sweet Core Orchard (University of Tampa Press, 2009), winner of the 2008 Tampa Review Prize and the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for poetry. He is also the author of a novel, The Spring Before Obergefell (University of Nebraska Press, 2024), which won the AWP Award Series James Alan McPherson Prize and the 2025 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance. His poems have appeared widely, including in The Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies. He also co-edited th ...more

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Benjamin S. Grossberg’s books

Average rating: 4.26 · 158 ratings · 40 reviews · 15 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Spring before Obergefell 4.35 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 2024 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Live on Other Planets: A Handbook for Aspiring Aliens by Joanne Merriam (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Dean Francis Alfar (Goodreads Author), Celia Lisset Alvarez (Goodreads Author) 4.13 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Space Traveler 3.73 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sweet Core Orchard: Poems 3.64 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Husband Would: Poems 4.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2020 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath 3.67 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Auctioneer Bangs His Gavel (Wick Poetry Chapbook Series Three, #11) 3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2006 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Elegy it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	As Are Right Fit it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Almanac.(Book review): An article from: The Antioch Review 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Benediction (Plainsong, #3)

by Kent Haruf

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Jul 10, 2025 02:55PM

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Benjamin rated a book liked it The Mare by Mary Gaitskill	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This book wasn't for me - and, of course, that's no judgment on the book itself. But I do want to mention that this book feels like it was written by a different author than the one who wrote Vernica and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. Those books, to m ...more
Aug 19, 2025 08:15AM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book it was amazing Veronica by Mary Gaitskill	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mary Gaitskills prose - often sentence by sentence - goes to completely unpredictable places. I feel like I'm getting the raw and full human experience, like she writes things (and about things) other writers are too polite to say. ...more
Aug 16, 2025 12:51AM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book really liked it Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Really 3.5 stars. The ending just wasn't believable to me. I understood the motivations the characters had, but it felt imposed on the narrative, rather than arising from the people they were. ...more
Jul 10, 2025 02:57PM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book really liked it Benediction (Plainsong, #3) by Kent Haruf	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 10, 2025 02:56PM · like
Benjamin rated a book really liked it Eventide (Plainsong, #2) by Kent Haruf	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4.5 stars. Not all the characters feel real to me, especially the Wallaces. But sentence by sentence, Haruf's prose is quietly beautifully. I'm going to read the third one next. ...more
Jul 01, 2025 09:59AM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book it was ok Catching Genius by Kristy Kiernan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
DNF. The opening scenes were so good, and the author has a great eye for detail and gesture. But I just had trouble connecting to these characters and the movement of their emotions.
Jun 25, 2025 08:03AM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book really liked it The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I found this a compelling book, often very compelling, though sometimes the writing felt a little messy and some of the character motivations were more believable to me than others. Still, I ended up liking the protagonist and her voice a great deal.
Jun 18, 2025 11:35AM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book really liked it Normal People by Sally Rooney (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Maybe 4.5 stars. I found parts of this book deeply trouble, and the end really saddened me. I'm not sure how I feel about the feelings this book stirred in me, but I think they are the feelings the author wanted to stir. ...more
May 26, 2025 03:09PM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book it was amazing Matrix by Lauren Groff (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Such a strange book. Not, in my experience, derivative of anything. By the end, I was won over wholly.
May 18, 2025 01:30PM · like · see review
Benjamin rated a book liked it Plainsong (Plainsong, #1) by Kent Haruf	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3.5 stars. I was taken with this book at first, loving the characterization, the laconic dialogue, the wrenching and accurate description--not adorned but precise, vivid. But by the end of the novel, some of the character motivations just stopped mak ...more
May 18, 2025 01:24PM · 1 like · like · see review

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Quotes by Benjamin S. Grossberg (?)

“It’s like I’ve been misshapen by a disease that people get vaccinated for nowadays,”
― Benjamin S. Grossberg, The Spring before Obergefell

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