The literary talent of Ben Lerner is apparent from the
first page of his new novel, 10:04. This novel is so much
more than literary fiction. 10:04 is short story, poetry,
children's fiction, philosophy and, one wonders, if it is
even autobiography, at certain points.
At the beginning of 10:04, the unnamed protagonist, who is
an author, is living in New York City and enjoying quite
of
bit of literary success with his first novel. Despite his
rising career, the author's personal life is in a bit of
turmoil as he has just had a scary medical diagnosis. In
addition, his best friend Alex has decided that her
biological clock is ticking and wants a child of her own
and has requested that the author be the sperm donor.
The basic plot is the strongest part of the book.
Throughout the story, however, Lerner experiments with
other types of genres and strays a bit from the core
story. At one point the author is working for a food co-
op
and his coworker tells him the story of her upbringing
which includes a biological father and the father that
actually raised her. This part reads like a short story,
really a story within the main story.
At another point in the book, the author goes on a five
week literary retreat where he writes quite a bit of
poetry
about his experience. Finally, the author tutors an eight
year old at a local public school and the book the eight
year old produces about paleontology is laid out in the
novel as well.
At its core, 10:04 is about an author struggling with life
in the early 21st century as a single man living in a big
city. Lerner flushes out the author's struggles through
short stories, poetry and even philosophy. Overall, 10:04
is a unique novel, unlike anything I have ever read
before.
A beautiful and utterly original novel about making art,
love, and children during the twilight of an empire
In the last year, the narrator of 10:04 has enjoyed
unexpected literary success, has been diagnosed with a
potentially fatal heart condition, and has been asked by
his
best friend to help her conceive a child, despite his
dating
a rising star in the visual arts. In a New York of
increasingly frequent super storms and political unrest,
he
must reckon with his biological mortality, the possibility
of a literary afterlife, and the prospect of
(unconventional) fatherhood in a city that might soon be
under water.
In prose that Jonathan Franzen has called “hilarious
.
. . cracklingly intelligent . . . and original in every
sentence,” Lerner captures what it’s like to be alive now,
when the difficulty of imagining a future has changed our
relation to our present and our past. Exploring sex,
friendship, medicine, memory, art, and politics, 10:04 is
both a riveting work of fiction and a brilliant
examination
of the role fiction plays in our lives.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy