Ben Wakeman

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Ben Wakeman

Goodreads Author


Born
in Boone, NC, The United States
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Influences
Charles Frazier, Ron Rash, John Irving, Wally Lamb, Stephen King, Pat ...more

Member Since
January 2012

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Ben Wakeman is an independent novelist and singer-songwriter who has worked in digital technology for more than 25 years. Early in his creative career, his focus was music where he shared the stage with artists like John Mayer, Gillian Welch, Collective Soul, and Sugarland. He went on to release five independent albums. In the 2010's Wakeman turned his focus to writing fiction and published his debut novel REWIND PLAYBACK in 2014.

His second novel, THE MEMORY OF MY SHADOW was published in August 2024. The book was first released as a serial on his Substack publication, Catch & Release where he has since released a third novel HARMONY HOUSE in the same manor and is currently publishing a fourth serial novel titled DEPARTURES. Wakeman is a gif
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Ben Wakeman Rewind, Playback is a book that was not difficult to write, at least at first because it takes place in a world I have spent much of my life surrounde…moreRewind, Playback is a book that was not difficult to write, at least at first because it takes place in a world I have spent much of my life surrounded by. Because it was my first attempt at a novel, I knew I wanted to write a simple story -- one that was propelled by the same things that have driven, inspired and often plagued me in my years as a musician.

The book is really about the treacherous intersection where art and commerce meet. Where choices are made between want to and have to, between love and ambition, between personal and public. Music is such a personal expression and has the power to capture and broadcast emotion like nothing else can. It is everywhere, all around us, from the busker in the subway to Beyoncé in the Super Dome. There are few vocations in our society that are both ignored and revered in such extremes.

I wanted to write the story of childhood friends who go on this mythical journey together to be “in a band” and show how they are transformed by this choice.
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Average rating: 4.72 · 29 ratings · 15 reviews · 2 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Memory of My Shadow

4.70 avg rating — 20 ratings3 editions
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Rewind, Playback

4.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions
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Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart
Vera, or Faith
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Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
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The Memory of My Shadow by Ben Wakeman
"While there a number of ways this book could be described, I think "good old-fashioned page turner" is most apt. I think this is the case notwithstanding the fact that the book is anything but old-fashioned. The plot is born out of the AI world in wh" Read more of this review »
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Unfixed by Kimberly  Warner
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Even if Kimberly Warner wasn't such a talented writer, her story would be wildly entertaining, proving the adage that truth really is stranger than fiction. Her recounting of her childhood is so alive and raw and full of shimmering imagery and deft m ...more
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Klara and the Sun
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More of Ben's books…
25x33 Men of Evansdale Book Club — 7 members — last activity May 30, 2012 07:02AM
Meet once a month to talk about books, drink bourbon and
4862 Books on the Nightstand — 6091 members — last activity Oct 15, 2025 08:48PM
A group to discuss books and topics mentioned on Books on the Nightstand, a blog and podcast about books and reading.
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