For journalists, booksellers, librarians, and event organizers. Everything below is approved for reprint and download.
Will Pass is a medical writer and former veterinarian. Both jobs kept him close to illness, and close to the question at the heart of his second novel: what would happen if we cured everything? The Whirlpool of Lebanon, set in Lebanon, Kansas, is his answer.
He is also the author of The Second-Smartest Dog That Ever Lived (2025 Southwest Books of the Year) and the host of Who Reads Books Anymore?, a street-interview series with 2.5M+ monthly views across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
He grew up in Kansas and writes from Colorado.
@willpassbooks
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There’s something in the water in Lebanon, Kansas.
An eccentric rancher discovers a whirlpool in his pasture that heals the sick and rolls back the years. Soon the whole town is desperate to drink, and the miracle won’t let go.
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I am a dog but I do not die at the end of this book.
A dog cursed with the intelligence of a human runs from his comfortable home in search of the truth about his own mind. A dark, funny novel about freedom, friendship, and not quite being what you are.
“A rollicking joyride through small-town Kansas where the characters are as big as their hearts. The story sucked me in with the same awe and mystery as the whirlpool spinning at its center. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to go back in time—for better or worse—then this book is for you. I loved every page.”
Becky Mandelbaum, author of Bad Kansas (Flannery O’Connor Award) · advance blurb
“A well-crafted comedy about the bad side of miracles. Pass expertly blends humor with moments of darkness, and the pacing stays strong throughout, picking up speed toward the end and racing smoothly along to the finish.”
Kirkus Reviews · “Get It” selection
“A weird, funny, and often suspenseful novel about aging and redemption.”
Foreword Reviews
“An exquisitely constructed novel with a large cast of believable, well-rounded characters you come to care about. Pass also captures the nuances of High Plains village life, which many have attempted but few have achieved.”
Bryan L. Jones, author of North of the Platte, South of the Niobrara
“Whirlpool is an intercession between the sublime and the sublunary, with characters as real as they are hilarious, as redeemable as they are tragic. Swift and stylish, this book is a bit like a glistening puddle you stomp on for joy then realize you’re standing in the center of the sea.”
Joe Deany-Braun, curator of Perelandra Bookshop and author of Young Santa
“Pass masterfully blends humor, heart, and peril in this anthropomorphic tale, making it an unforgettable read.”
Southwest Books of the Year
“Pass’ novel abounds with witty dialogue, biting sarcasm, and page-turning action. Rou is a stalwart lead, smart as a whip and tenderhearted, and second banana Shakespeare is an endearing, jovial ball of energy.”
Kirkus Reviews · “Get It” selection
June 26, 2026
A ten-minute conversation with host Abby O’Brien on the origin of the street-interview series, leaving veterinary medicine for writing, and what strangers have taught Will about how (and whether) people read.
Angles Will is prepared to speak to. Producers and hosts are welcome to lift any of these directly, adapt them, or combine them for longer segments.
The story behind Who Reads Books Anymore?
How a rejected question in the Lowe’s parking lot became a street-interview series with 2.5 million monthly views, and what changed when Will stopped looking for “his” readers and started asking who was reading anything at all.
What 500+ street interviews revealed about how Americans actually read
The gap between the “nobody reads anymore” narrative and what Will keeps finding in the field, including devoted readers who don’t look the part and articulate non-readers who don’t fit the stereotypes either.
From veterinary medicine to fiction
Leaving vet practice after a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, the emotional pull of the exam room, and how a decade of animal medicine became the raw material for The Second-Smartest Dog That Ever Lived.
The Whirlpool of Lebanon: what happens when a Kansas town finds a miracle
Will’s second novel, out September 15, 2026, is set in the actual geographic center of the contiguous United States. He can speak to the appeal of writing surreal fiction about very ordinary places, the moral shape of small-town group behavior, and why the temptation to turn back the clock is a dangerous one.
Books as the small-talk alternative
Why an introvert can approach total strangers about books when he can’t manage the weather, and why book conversations open up faster and go further than almost any other opener.
The empathy of heavy readers
Why the comment sections under Who Reads Books Anymore? are unusually gentle, and what the show has taught Will about reading as a habit that shapes how people interpret other people.
Cleared for intros, program notes, show descriptions, event copy, and marketing. Full-length bio is at the top of this page.
Will Pass is a medical writer and former veterinarian. His second novel, The Whirlpool of Lebanon (Thiessen Press, September 15, 2026), asks what would happen if a small town in Kansas found a cure for everything. He is also the host of Who Reads Books Anymore? and the author of The Second-Smartest Dog That Ever Lived (2025 Southwest Books of the Year).
Who Reads Books Anymore? is a short-form video series in which novelist Will Pass approaches strangers in grocery stores, bookshops, airports, and malls to ask what they’re reading. Started in the summer of 2025, the show now draws 2.5 million monthly views across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Every book mentioned each month is compiled into a free companion newsletter, the WRBA Review.
Media inquiries, interview requests, review copies, and event booking:
Download the one-sheet (PDF, ~420 KB) Full press kit (ZIP, ~750 KB)
One-sheet: single-page press release for producers and journalists. Full kit: bio, press-info, hi-res covers, headshot, and the one-sheet PDF.
For rights or licensing, please contact Thiessen Press.
