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From the “most talented writer of his generation” (The New York Times), a lightning flash of a novel that is at once a gripping emotional drama and a brilliant examination of the devices, digital and literary, we use to store―or to erase―our memories.
The narrator of Ben Lerner’s new novel has traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, where he is to conduct what will be the final published interview with Thomas, his ninety-year-old mentor and the father of his college friend, Max. Thomas is a giant in the arts who seems to hail “from the future and the past simultaneously” and who “reenchants the air” when he speaks. But the narrator drops his smartphone in the hotel sink. He arrives at Thomas’s house with no recording device, a fact he is mysteriously unable to confess.
What unfolds from this dreamlike circumstance is both the unforgettable story of the triangle formed by Thomas, Max, and the narrator, and a brilliant meditation on those technologies that enrich or impoverish our connection to one another, that store or obliterate memory. Haunted by Kafka (there are echoes of “The Judgement” and “A Hunger Artist”), but utterly contemporary, Lerner combines trenchant insight with lyric mystery. Ultimately, Transcription demonstrates what only a work of fiction can record.
The narrator of Ben Lerner’s new novel has traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, where he is to conduct what will be the final published interview with Thomas, his ninety-year-old mentor and the father of his college friend, Max. Thomas is a giant in the arts who seems to hail “from the future and the past simultaneously” and who “reenchants the air” when he speaks. But the narrator drops his smartphone in the hotel sink. He arrives at Thomas’s house with no recording device, a fact he is mysteriously unable to confess.
What unfolds from this dreamlike circumstance is both the unforgettable story of the triangle formed by Thomas, Max, and the narrator, and a brilliant meditation on those technologies that enrich or impoverish our connection to one another, that store or obliterate memory. Haunted by Kafka (there are echoes of “The Judgement” and “A Hunger Artist”), but utterly contemporary, Lerner combines trenchant insight with lyric mystery. Ultimately, Transcription demonstrates what only a work of fiction can record.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2026
About the author
Ben Lerner
68 books2,020 followersBen Lerner is an American poet, novelist, and critic. He was awarded the Hayden Carruth prize for his cycle of fifty-two sonnets, The Lichtenberg Figures. In 2004, Library Journal named it one of the year's twelve best books of poetry. The Lichtenberg Figures appeared in a German translation in 2010, for which it received the "Preis der Stadt Münster für internationale Poesie" in 2011, making Lerner the first American to receive this honor.
Born and raised in Topeka, which figures in each of his books of poetry, Lerner is a 1997 graduate of Topeka High School where he was a standout in debate and forensics. At Brown University he earned a B.A. in Political Theory and an MFA in Poetry. He traveled on a Fulbright Scholarship to Madrid, Spain in 2003 where he wrote his second book, Angle of Yaw, which was published in 2006 and was subsequently named a finalist for the National Book Award, and was selected by Brian Foley as one of the "25 important books of poetry of the 00s (2000-2009)". Lerner's third full-length poetry collection, Mean Free Path, was published in 2010.
Lerner's first novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, was published by Coffee House Press in August 2011. It was named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and New York Magazine, among other periodicals. It won the Believer Book Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for "first fiction" and the New York Public Library's Young Lions prize.
In 2008 Lerner began editing poetry for Critical Quarterly, a British academic publication. He has taught at California College of the Arts, the University of Pittsburgh, and in 2010 joined the faculty of the MFA program at Brooklyn College.
Lerner's mother is the well-known psychologist Harriet Lerner.
Born and raised in Topeka, which figures in each of his books of poetry, Lerner is a 1997 graduate of Topeka High School where he was a standout in debate and forensics. At Brown University he earned a B.A. in Political Theory and an MFA in Poetry. He traveled on a Fulbright Scholarship to Madrid, Spain in 2003 where he wrote his second book, Angle of Yaw, which was published in 2006 and was subsequently named a finalist for the National Book Award, and was selected by Brian Foley as one of the "25 important books of poetry of the 00s (2000-2009)". Lerner's third full-length poetry collection, Mean Free Path, was published in 2010.
Lerner's first novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, was published by Coffee House Press in August 2011. It was named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and New York Magazine, among other periodicals. It won the Believer Book Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for "first fiction" and the New York Public Library's Young Lions prize.
In 2008 Lerner began editing poetry for Critical Quarterly, a British academic publication. He has taught at California College of the Arts, the University of Pittsburgh, and in 2010 joined the faculty of the MFA program at Brooklyn College.
Lerner's mother is the well-known psychologist Harriet Lerner.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 22, 2026
Un poco Victoria Martín diciendo lo de “tienes el cerebro frito de ver tantos tiktoks”.
Basado en la premisa de la dictadura de la pantalla y el homenaje se hace un juego de memoria y recuerdos líquidos entre la hipnagogia, la invención y la luz de gas. Interesante en cierta medida pero, yo que sé, muchas tramas que no he terminado de ver cohesionadas y personajes diseñados para que los odies por ineptos.
Basado en la premisa de la dictadura de la pantalla y el homenaje se hace un juego de memoria y recuerdos líquidos entre la hipnagogia, la invención y la luz de gas. Interesante en cierta medida pero, yo que sé, muchas tramas que no he terminado de ver cohesionadas y personajes diseñados para que los odies por ineptos.
October 5, 2026
Sin ninguna prueba creo que esto es un libro de cuentos compuesto oportunamente como novela, y que el autor confía en que sus lectores verán la falta de cohesión como un misterio interesante en el que reflexionar en reseñas y clubs de lectura. Me repelen sus personajes y desconfío del autor pero me divierto leyéndolo más de lo que debería.
May 1, 2026
Un periodista se prepara para entrevistar a un renombrado poeta de 90 años. Justo antes, su celular tiene una falla y con ello pierde la posibilidad de grabar la conversación. Su tarde y su entrevista se tiñen por su dependencia del aparato.
Un hombre enfrenta la negativa de su hija pequeña a comer y, con ello, la perturbación de su dinámica familiar. A la vez, reflexiona sobre su propia relación con su padre, el poeta de 90 años mencionado más arriba.
Qué buen libro. Súper bien escrito, con buenos temas, entretenido y -al menos para mí- novedoso. Fue una tentación porque lo recomendaron en una lista online como uno de los mejores libros del 2026 y sí, confirmo que será uno de los top de este año para mí también.
Un hombre enfrenta la negativa de su hija pequeña a comer y, con ello, la perturbación de su dinámica familiar. A la vez, reflexiona sobre su propia relación con su padre, el poeta de 90 años mencionado más arriba.
Qué buen libro. Súper bien escrito, con buenos temas, entretenido y -al menos para mí- novedoso. Fue una tentación porque lo recomendaron en una lista online como uno de los mejores libros del 2026 y sí, confirmo que será uno de los top de este año para mí también.
July 29, 2026
Transcription trata temas importantes del mundo actual; nuestra relación (dependencia) con la tecnología, el papel de la memoria en la identidad y cómo esta es alterada (en parte por la propia tecnología). Y además trata estos temas con un estilo cuidado y una estructura que realza el contenido por su estilo fragmentario e impersonal. Pero esto se ve socavado por la incapacidad de la novela de cohesionar los temas y los hechos en un todo por lo que deja el sabor de ser pinceladas. Bien trabajadas pero pinceladas.
July 26, 2026
No es para mí, lo siento. Se siente como si intentara escribir con el tono y el estilo de Cortázar, pero no logra ni lo uno ni lo otro.
Toca por encima temas muy interesantes, como la tecnología, la dependencia, la depresión, sin llegar a profundizar lo suficiente para sentir que genera valor a la conversación.
Tiene apartados muy entretenidos que tratan de emular ensayos, pero ni el ensayo se siente tan bueno, ni la narración termina de consolidarse de manera cohesiva.
Toca por encima temas muy interesantes, como la tecnología, la dependencia, la depresión, sin llegar a profundizar lo suficiente para sentir que genera valor a la conversación.
Tiene apartados muy entretenidos que tratan de emular ensayos, pero ni el ensayo se siente tan bueno, ni la narración termina de consolidarse de manera cohesiva.
August 10, 2026
Por suerte esperaba que fuera raro.
Al final igual me gustó la historia, pero mucho rato estuve preguntándome que estaba leyendo.
Al final igual me gustó la historia, pero mucho rato estuve preguntándome que estaba leyendo.
July 19, 2026
La narración de la segunda parte fue excelente, lástima que todo el principio haya sido tan irrelevante
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews