Transcription (Lerner novel)
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Transcription is a 2026 novel by Ben Lerner.[1]
Ben Lerner had published three novels before Transcription: Leaving the Atocha Station (2011), 10:04 (2014), and The Topeka School (2019).[2] He was inspired to write Transcription after being asked, in 2024, if he wanted to interview the poet Rosmarie Waldrop.[3] The character of Thomas is said to be partly inspired by German author, filmmaker and intellectual Alexander Kluge, with whom Lerner had worked on a number of projects.[4][5][6]
The novel was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. At around 130 pages long, divided into three sections, it is Lerner's shortest novel.[3][2]
Reception
A critic writing in The Guardian deemed the novel a "stunning exploration of technology and storytelling",[7] and The New York Times described it as making "a case for the vitality of the [novel]."[8] Katie Tobin of Jacobin described the book as a "penetrating meditation on fraudulence, fatherhood, and the fate of authentic experience in our digital age".[9]
References
- ↑ Dames, Nicholas (2026-04-07). "The Feeling of Becoming Less and Less of a Person". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
- 1 2 Harvey, Giles (2026-03-30). "The Ample Rewards of Ben Lerner's Slender New Novel". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
- 1 2 Lozano, Kevin (2026-04-03). "Ben Lerner's Big Feelings". Vulture. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
- ↑ Stephan, Felix (2026-03-13). "Wahrheit und Dichtung: Ben Lerners Roman "Transkription" und Alexander Kluge". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ↑ Haibach, Philipp. "Eine Hommage an Alexander Kluge: Ben Lerners Roman Transkription". Der Freitag (in German). ISSN 0945-2095. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ↑ Harvey, Giles (2026-03-30). "The Ample Rewards of Ben Lerner's Slender New Novel". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ↑ Sandhu, Sukhdev (2026-03-31). "Transcription by Ben Lerner review – a stunning exploration of technology and storytelling". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
- ↑ Sehgal, Parul (2026-04-03). "Ben Lerner's Latest Is a Strange and Brilliant Attempt to Resurrect the Novel". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
- ↑ Tobin, Katie (2026-04-06). "Ben Lerner's Transcription Is a Brilliant Meditation on Tech". Jacobin. Retrieved 2026-04-08.