Authors Life
Benjamin Alire Sáenz is a poet, novelist and writer of children's books. Benjamin was born in Old Picacho in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. A small while before Benjamin wrote this story he was going through college at the University of Texas in El Paso("Benjamin Alíre Sáenz"). Benjamin's idea to write Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe came from his coming out as gay("Wiki.com"). This coming out of his inspired him to create books exploring the LGBT ways("Wiki.com"). Benjamin was struggling with accepting himself as gay for many years because of him being sexually abused as a child("Wiki.com"). Benjamin Alire Sáenz had a very rough life from the start and I believe that if it was not for his many different experiences and emotions he would not be the excellent author he is today. Benjamin Alire Sáenz with a past that is different from most people's has become one of my personal favorite authors out there.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Alire_Sáenz#Life
Author/Characters Comparison
I believe that Benjamin sees himself as many, if not all of the characters in some small way. He can see himself as Mr. Quintana because Mr. Quintana is a literature professor and was working on a novel. Benjamin could also see himself in Mrs. Quintana because of his past in humanities and philosophy while Mrs. Quintana is a therapist. Benjamin is a person of many different sides and I believe that Aristotle(Ari) is one of them. Ari is a boy who has been quiet and different all his life. I believe that Benjamin and Ari are similar because they both have difficult pasts and grew up in the same areas. Benjamin is most similar with Ari as a character/author relationship. Dante is another story altogether because he is so different from everyone else in the story. Dante's relationship with Benjamin is one you must decide on your own because of how incredibly complex the character is.