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Tom Bentley

Goodreads Author

Born

in Long Beach, The United States

Website

http://www.tombentley.com

Twitter

TomBentleyNow

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Psychology, Business

Influences

Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, my mother ...more

Member Since

January 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/bentguy

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Hello. I hope this doesn't sound like a laundry list (and a soiled one at that) of me, me, me, but: I’ve run a writing and editing business out of my house for many years.

I've published hundreds of freelance pieces—ranging from first-person essays to travel pieces to more journalistic subjects—in newspapers, magazines, and online. (Venues include The Washington Post, Forbes, Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Writer’s Digest, Sailing Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Wired, the San Francisco Chronicle, Writer's Market and many others.)

I have written several novels and nonfiction books, and I was the 1999 winner of the National Steinbeck Center’s short story contest, as well as a 2007 winner of the Lunch Hour Stories short story contest; I’ve also w ...more

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Tom Bentley’s books

Average rating: 3.9 · 51 ratings · 23 reviews · 7 distinct works

	Flowering and Other Stories 3.94 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2012 — 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
	Sticky Fingers: Confessions of a Marginally Repentant Shoplifter 4.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2022 — 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
	All Roads Are Circles 3.44 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2011 — 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
	Think Like a Writer: How to Write the Stories You See 3.43 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2015 — 3 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
	Swirled All the Way to the Shrub by Tom Bentley (Goodreads Author), Rick Wilson 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2018 — 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
	Aftershock 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 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
	Sim Farm User's Manual 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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Tom Bentley's Blog

Time to Unclog the Blog

(Well, It’s More like Bye and Hi)

Comrades, Kind Souls, and Those Who Stumbled Onto This Blog Looking for Free Cookies:

I’m going to streamline some of my business practices and pursuits, narrowing down some types of writing, and more finely tuning the audience towards whom that writing is slanted. Part of that consolidation is that I’m going to stop blogging and concentrate my messa

Tom is Currently Reading

Tom Bentley is currently reading

Floodchaser

by Aaron Tyler Hand (Goodreads Author)

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Feb 18, 2026 04:10PM

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Vigil

by George Saunders

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Feb 17, 2026 09:27AM

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A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction

by Elizabeth McCracken

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Feb 15, 2026 04:48PM

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Tom Bentley is currently reading Floodchaser by Aaron Tyler Hand (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
Feb 18, 2026 04:10PM · like
Tom Bentley is currently reading Vigil by George Saunders	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
Feb 17, 2026 09:27AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Vigil by George Saunders. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Vigil by George Saunders <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tom Bentley rated a book really liked it All Fours by Miranda July (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
So what if I'm sitting on your great-grandfather's chest naked and I'm eating blueberries out of your shoes? Why are you so judgy? By the way, tomorrow I'm going to borrow your car and drive to Uganda to pick up a parasol—will you pay for gas? The nar ...more
Feb 15, 2026 04:49PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of All Fours by Miranda July. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — All Fours by Miranda July <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tom Bentley is currently reading A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction by Elizabeth McCracken	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
Feb 15, 2026 04:48PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Long Game by Elizabeth McCracken. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Long Game by Elizabeth McCracken <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tom Bentley rated a book it was amazing Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean (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
One of the very best, if not the best book on the development of a journalist's career, holding a close mirror to the stumbles, insecurities, boldness and sheer improbability of moving to the top of her profession, with little compromise or galloping ...more
Feb 15, 2026 04:38PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Joyride by Susan Orlean. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Joyride by Susan Orlean <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tom Bentley is currently reading All Fours by Miranda July (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
Jan 28, 2026 08:37AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of All Fours by Miranda July. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — All Fours by Miranda July <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tom Bentley entered a giveaway Unhinged Habits: A Counterintuitive Guide for Humans to Have More by Doing Less by Jonathan Goodman (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
Jan 28, 2026 08:36AM · like · see giveaway · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Unhinged Habits by Jonathan Goodman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Unhinged Habits by Jonathan Goodman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Tom Bentley rated a book liked it California in color;: An essay on the paradox of plenty and descriptive texts (Profiles of America) by T.H. Watkins	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 went back and forth on my feelings about Mr. Watkins' writing: sometimes his chewy carping was amusing and pointed, and other times he seemed like he was taking a world-weary tough-guy dangling cigarette tone just for effect. I ended up prejudiced ...more
Jan 20, 2026 03:51PM · like · see review
Tom Bentley and 29 other people liked Julie G's review of The Fever of Being: "This was my introduction to Luis Alberto Urrea’s work, and it was almost funny, after reading several poetry collections by women in a row, to stumble upon lines like these: I was born in flame. The Mexicans wheeled my mother, belly-up, belly aimed at a" Read more of this review »
Jan 13, 2026 04:52PM · see review
Jan 10, 2026 09:10AM · like · view books

More of Tom's books…

Tom’s Quotes

“I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away - I want my death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery. A work of art.”
― Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad

1482 likes

“Sorrow is how we learn to love. Your heart isn't breaking. It hurts because it's getting larger. The larger it gets, the more love it holds.”
― Rita Mae Brown, Riding Shotgun

tags: love

2766 likes

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
― Mark Twain

tags: arrogance, humor, ignorance

4232 likes

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

tags: human-nature

781 likes

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