Photo: Larry D. Moore / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Ben Fountain fascinates me as a writer who refused to rush. He built his name on short stories, won the PEN/Hemingway for Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, and then floored everyone with his debut novel Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, taking the National Book Critics Circle Award. What I value most is his nerve: he stares straight at American self-deception around war and patriotism instead of flattering his readers. That patience and moral seriousness are rare. He's proof that a slow-burning, carefully aged body of work can hit harder than a torrent of output. I'd trust this man's sentences anywhere.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ben Fountain
- Name (Japanese)
- ベン・ファウンテン
- Reading
- べん・ふぁうんてん
- Born
- January 1, 1958 (age 68)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Dog
- Origin
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
- Occupation
- writer / novelist / short story writer
2. Background
- University
- Duke University
Awards & achievements
- 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
- 2007 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Ben Fountain born?
Born January 1, 1958 (age 68).
Where is Ben Fountain from?
Ben Fountain is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States.
What does Ben Fountain do?
Ben Fountain works as writer, novelist, short story writer.
What is Ben Fountain known for?
Notable works include Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.
Writer — see all → · Novelist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.