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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 January 1, 2026
34 people are currently reading
7763 people want to read
About the author
Ben Lerner
70 books1,654 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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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Okay, now I see why everyone and their mother is obsessed with Lerner: This short novel about technology and memory presents itself as an experimental ghost story about father figures, and it has no business being so suspenseful, because hardly anything actually happens. "Transcription" is split in three parts, each named after a hotel that is central to its plot line - let's have a look at them all:
Hotel Providence in Providence, RI
The unnamed narrator visits his now 90-year-old mentor Thomas from Brown University (where Lerner studied as well) to do an interview with him, and he is unable to grasp what the nonagenarian is hinting at when he says that he will soon travel to Switzerland. While the 45-year-old narrator had planned to record the conversation with his phone, he accidentally breaks it before the appointment and doesn't have the heart to admit it to the old man, thus talking to him only pretending to record.
The star of this chapter and the book as a whole is the way Lerner crafts his dialogue: The ruminations of the old, highly educated German-born Thomas who loves to go on tangents and fights his failing memory, and how they are juxtaposed with the thoughts of the middle-aged former mentee, now himself a father, trying to re-evaluate the past from his new position in life. As this is Lerner, we of course have puzzle elements throughout the chapter: Hanns Eisler, Werner Schroeter, the Rue des Rennes bombing etc. pp.
Hotel Villa Real in Madrid
After Thomas' death, there's a symposium about his work at the Museo Reina Sofía, where the narrator reveals that he has reconstructed parts of the interview with him from memory, thus sparking a debate whether that's permissible. Interviews are almost always edited, but where does falsification start, when does a conversation turn into fiction, what can and can't technology record?
Hotel Arbez in La Cure, Switzerland
The final part is crafted as a dialogue between Thomas' son Max and the narrator. They have been friends since college, where Thomas became a father figure to the narrator as well - now they are both fathers, thinking about their roles, how Thomas fulfilled his role and what shaped all of them.
The bass line of Lerner's novel is a timeless meditation on family and what it means to be a father, but it is amplified by the role of technology, what it can reveal and capture, how it can swallow us and make us disappear, how it can connect and separate us (yup, there's a COVID angle in there). There is no didacticism in the text, but a lot of subtlety and complexity, also in the construction of the story.
Also, Lerner gives us one of the funniest author promos ever: In a recording mirroring the one done by the narrator, he talks about his novel for two minutes, describing the content intricately and in a way that I would fully subscribe to, but for people who haven't read the novel, his explanations are still more or less useless: It's impossible to summarize even parts of the story from what Lerner says, and I love how that promo functions as a smart paratext (you can listen to it here).
A very worthwhile read, let's see how it performs in the awards circuit.
You can now listen to the podcast crew discussing the German translation Transkription (let me just say: controversy!!) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/...
Hotel Providence in Providence, RI
The unnamed narrator visits his now 90-year-old mentor Thomas from Brown University (where Lerner studied as well) to do an interview with him, and he is unable to grasp what the nonagenarian is hinting at when he says that he will soon travel to Switzerland. While the 45-year-old narrator had planned to record the conversation with his phone, he accidentally breaks it before the appointment and doesn't have the heart to admit it to the old man, thus talking to him only pretending to record.
The star of this chapter and the book as a whole is the way Lerner crafts his dialogue: The ruminations of the old, highly educated German-born Thomas who loves to go on tangents and fights his failing memory, and how they are juxtaposed with the thoughts of the middle-aged former mentee, now himself a father, trying to re-evaluate the past from his new position in life. As this is Lerner, we of course have puzzle elements throughout the chapter: Hanns Eisler, Werner Schroeter, the Rue des Rennes bombing etc. pp.
Hotel Villa Real in Madrid
After Thomas' death, there's a symposium about his work at the Museo Reina Sofía, where the narrator reveals that he has reconstructed parts of the interview with him from memory, thus sparking a debate whether that's permissible. Interviews are almost always edited, but where does falsification start, when does a conversation turn into fiction, what can and can't technology record?
Hotel Arbez in La Cure, Switzerland
The final part is crafted as a dialogue between Thomas' son Max and the narrator. They have been friends since college, where Thomas became a father figure to the narrator as well - now they are both fathers, thinking about their roles, how Thomas fulfilled his role and what shaped all of them.
The bass line of Lerner's novel is a timeless meditation on family and what it means to be a father, but it is amplified by the role of technology, what it can reveal and capture, how it can swallow us and make us disappear, how it can connect and separate us (yup, there's a COVID angle in there). There is no didacticism in the text, but a lot of subtlety and complexity, also in the construction of the story.
Also, Lerner gives us one of the funniest author promos ever: In a recording mirroring the one done by the narrator, he talks about his novel for two minutes, describing the content intricately and in a way that I would fully subscribe to, but for people who haven't read the novel, his explanations are still more or less useless: It's impossible to summarize even parts of the story from what Lerner says, and I love how that promo functions as a smart paratext (you can listen to it here).
A very worthwhile read, let's see how it performs in the awards circuit.
You can now listen to the podcast crew discussing the German translation Transkription (let me just say: controversy!!) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/...
August 27, 2025
Erudite and focusing on the liminal space between public persona and private family relationships. Echoes of earlier turns of phrase and thoughts reverberate in the narrative, as do themes of suicide and self harm
But trust me, no matter how great it was to have him as a mentor, you don’t want a spirit medium as a father.
An interviewer is on his way to Thomas, in his 90s, and a titan within the arts and a veritable walking encyclopaedia. In three sections Ben Lerner takes the interview with Thomas and reflects on the ethics of recording and editing these exchanges with someone whose mental faculties are in decline and how his son perceives Thomas. This first section, called Hotel Providence for the university town Thomas lives, draws the reader into memories resurfacing and comments on our relationship with technology (with a iPhone getting wet forming an important plot point) and questionable ethics of our narrator in interviewing a 90 year old who clearly seems to struggle.
Meanwhile beneath the surface violence seems to simmer, exemplified in offhand sentences like: It was conventional undergraduate stuff, but then, so is suicide.
[Hotel Villa Real], the second part of the book centres around a visit to Madrid at a kind of conference at a museum (Reina Sofia) on the work of Thomas. This section feels a lot like a chapter in Parade by Rachel Cusk and starts addressing the ethics of interviews with someone whose faculties are waning.
Finally in Hotel Arbez (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel...) we have a granddaughter who refuses to eat from a very young age. Clearly there are some frustrations of having Thomas as a father. ASMR and laissez-faire techniques are used in facing the immense frustration and powerlessness of the parents.
Technology again forms a major part here, and forms an interesting, non-judgemental commentary on our inability to truly connect with each other, and especially those closest to us: But our proximity just produced the most intense forms of estrangement
The style and themes of Transcription are reminiscent to the works of Katie Kitamura, Rachel Cusk and Jesse Ball, in how non-linearity of narrative (echoing between themselves), vagueness of place (even though we Covid-19 plays an important role in the last part of the book and we have Eva, a ten year old singing along to Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero) and different takes on events rendered earlier are important.
I enjoyed this short novel and this is definitely a book to watch out for when it is published, I think many will enjoy the erudite take on our modern world and our relationship with each other under barrages of screen time, recordings and the mythologies we create.
Quotes:
I didn’t find it. I woke up.
But waking doesn’t end the dream.
Sanity often requires the disavowal of the senses.
But trust me, no matter how great it was to have him as a mentor, you don’t want a spirit medium as a father.
An interviewer is on his way to Thomas, in his 90s, and a titan within the arts and a veritable walking encyclopaedia. In three sections Ben Lerner takes the interview with Thomas and reflects on the ethics of recording and editing these exchanges with someone whose mental faculties are in decline and how his son perceives Thomas. This first section, called Hotel Providence for the university town Thomas lives, draws the reader into memories resurfacing and comments on our relationship with technology (with a iPhone getting wet forming an important plot point) and questionable ethics of our narrator in interviewing a 90 year old who clearly seems to struggle.
Meanwhile beneath the surface violence seems to simmer, exemplified in offhand sentences like: It was conventional undergraduate stuff, but then, so is suicide.
[Hotel Villa Real], the second part of the book centres around a visit to Madrid at a kind of conference at a museum (Reina Sofia) on the work of Thomas. This section feels a lot like a chapter in Parade by Rachel Cusk and starts addressing the ethics of interviews with someone whose faculties are waning.
Finally in Hotel Arbez (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel...) we have a granddaughter who refuses to eat from a very young age. Clearly there are some frustrations of having Thomas as a father. ASMR and laissez-faire techniques are used in facing the immense frustration and powerlessness of the parents.
Technology again forms a major part here, and forms an interesting, non-judgemental commentary on our inability to truly connect with each other, and especially those closest to us: But our proximity just produced the most intense forms of estrangement
The style and themes of Transcription are reminiscent to the works of Katie Kitamura, Rachel Cusk and Jesse Ball, in how non-linearity of narrative (echoing between themselves), vagueness of place (even though we Covid-19 plays an important role in the last part of the book and we have Eva, a ten year old singing along to Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero) and different takes on events rendered earlier are important.
I enjoyed this short novel and this is definitely a book to watch out for when it is published, I think many will enjoy the erudite take on our modern world and our relationship with each other under barrages of screen time, recordings and the mythologies we create.
Quotes:
I didn’t find it. I woke up.
But waking doesn’t end the dream.
Sanity often requires the disavowal of the senses.
Read
October 11, 2025Ben Lerner in my personal Mt Rushmore of white straight guys allowed to keep writing books
Read
March 26, 2026I didn’t quite know what to expect going into this because I’d never read a book by Ben Lerner before, and from what I did know this one sounded a bit different than his other works. But I soon discovered that man can WRITE. Not only his sentence-level writing which is masterful, but the way he can manage to squeeze so much into only 144 pages is really quite something. A book about technology and our digital tethers, the way we are consciously and unconsciously influenced by media, the persistence of memory across time even in distorted forms, dynamic relationships between fathers and their children, and in many ways a look at how the COVID era has exacerbated all of these themes without it becoming a straight-up COVID novel. You could read this book again and again pulling on different threads and keep finding new things to ruminate on.
The book begins with a man–an unnamed male narrator–heading to the home of his former mentor, Thomas, a historian who has recently turned 90 years old. But before arriving at Thomas’ house, the narrator’s phone on which he planned to record the meeting for an article he is writing falls in the sink and becomes useless. The narrator goes on with the meeting, planning to use the evening to prepare for their longer session tomorrow, by which time he plans to have acquired a new phone with which to record. However, at their evening session the narrator begins to realize not all is as it seems or as he remembers, blurring the lines between truth and fiction, past and present.
We go on from there to a shorter chapter in the middle followed by a final lengthier section, each revealing new layers and facets to the realities of the narrator’s situation. Lerner uses these distinct parts to explore the themes mentioned above, but in such subtle and expert ways. The dialogue is flawless; it somehow feels controlled and specific without feeling lifeless. The way he moves seamlessly between timelines, memories, and conversations while still keeping the reader grounded in what’s happening ‘right now’ is really impressive.
I don’t know that I understood everything this book did, but I always enjoyed it. I even read the first 70 pages or so twice before completing the book, because I could tell there were so many layers to the book I didn’t want to miss by speeding through it. And I could probably go back and read the whole things again and uncover more! I can’t wait to talk to people about this one. If you were a fan of or at least appreciated any of these books (Audition by Katie Kitamura, Universality by Natasha Brown, Parade by Rachel Cusk), check it out. It comes out April 7, 2026. Thanks to the publisher for an early advanced copy for review!
The book begins with a man–an unnamed male narrator–heading to the home of his former mentor, Thomas, a historian who has recently turned 90 years old. But before arriving at Thomas’ house, the narrator’s phone on which he planned to record the meeting for an article he is writing falls in the sink and becomes useless. The narrator goes on with the meeting, planning to use the evening to prepare for their longer session tomorrow, by which time he plans to have acquired a new phone with which to record. However, at their evening session the narrator begins to realize not all is as it seems or as he remembers, blurring the lines between truth and fiction, past and present.
We go on from there to a shorter chapter in the middle followed by a final lengthier section, each revealing new layers and facets to the realities of the narrator’s situation. Lerner uses these distinct parts to explore the themes mentioned above, but in such subtle and expert ways. The dialogue is flawless; it somehow feels controlled and specific without feeling lifeless. The way he moves seamlessly between timelines, memories, and conversations while still keeping the reader grounded in what’s happening ‘right now’ is really impressive.
I don’t know that I understood everything this book did, but I always enjoyed it. I even read the first 70 pages or so twice before completing the book, because I could tell there were so many layers to the book I didn’t want to miss by speeding through it. And I could probably go back and read the whole things again and uncover more! I can’t wait to talk to people about this one. If you were a fan of or at least appreciated any of these books (Audition by Katie Kitamura, Universality by Natasha Brown, Parade by Rachel Cusk), check it out. It comes out April 7, 2026. Thanks to the publisher for an early advanced copy for review!
Read
March 21, 2026Lerner can write, obviously, and he’s skilled enough that anything of his is readable and enjoyable at some level, but for much of Transcription I wasn’t convinced by the subject matter at all, it just felt like random things spliced together. An extended meditation on what it’s like when your phone breaks, some banal scraps about parenting, a bit of ‘hey, remember the pandemic?’, a story about a child’s eating disorder – all are written with finesse but this is thin stuff.
What then happens, though, is that it somehow all comes together quite miraculously at the end. Suddenly the themes synthesise and the different perspectives seem more interesting than they have thus far. So I’m caught between thinking Lerner has performed some distinct magic here to get this story to be more than the sum of its parts, and feeling that if a writer is talented they can make just about anything good.
I received an advance review copy of Transcription from the publisher through Edelweiss.
What then happens, though, is that it somehow all comes together quite miraculously at the end. Suddenly the themes synthesise and the different perspectives seem more interesting than they have thus far. So I’m caught between thinking Lerner has performed some distinct magic here to get this story to be more than the sum of its parts, and feeling that if a writer is talented they can make just about anything good.
I received an advance review copy of Transcription from the publisher through Edelweiss.
November 22, 2025
In a world where our devices seem to run interference with our being in the world, with our connections to others. How we now live and see the world as filtered through our devices. We even see family death through our device, just as we’ve just seen the Gazan genocide online. How does this affect us? Are we just another device ourselves and can turn ourselves of like we do the devices?
Transcription is the work of a poet who puts us in the space between. The place between our private lives and our public lives especially if we are ‘famous’. The place between the ‘good use’ of our devices and becoming addicted to them. The place between being independent human beings with our own agency and being an addendum to our devices in a place where we cannot function without them. With his spotlight on our children, Lerner explores how these in between spaces can affect them as well. How we’ve made our devices part of their being as well and the possible results.
An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.
Transcription is the work of a poet who puts us in the space between. The place between our private lives and our public lives especially if we are ‘famous’. The place between the ‘good use’ of our devices and becoming addicted to them. The place between being independent human beings with our own agency and being an addendum to our devices in a place where we cannot function without them. With his spotlight on our children, Lerner explores how these in between spaces can affect them as well. How we’ve made our devices part of their being as well and the possible results.
An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Transcription is divided into three parts.
In Hotel Providence a writer returns to his college town to conduct a final interview with his ailing and aged mentor, Thomas. But having dropped his phone into the washbasin he finds himself in the dilemma of not being able to record the interview but not wanting to let Thomas down.
In Hotel Villa Real we see the young writer being lauded for the triumphant interview but will he come clean?
Finally, in what I found the most moving section we meet Thomas' son, Max, and his family who are dealing with their own troubles with their daughter and, latterly, Thomas health at the time of Covid. This final part is a thoughtful look at the relationships between father and child when health is the all consuming issue.
Ben Lerner has written another wonderful short novel that deals with relationships between fathers, children and those we influence throughout a career. The prose is perfect, the characters are interesting and complex.
I really need to read more of Lerner's work.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Farrar,Strauss and Giroux for the digital review copy.
In Hotel Providence a writer returns to his college town to conduct a final interview with his ailing and aged mentor, Thomas. But having dropped his phone into the washbasin he finds himself in the dilemma of not being able to record the interview but not wanting to let Thomas down.
In Hotel Villa Real we see the young writer being lauded for the triumphant interview but will he come clean?
Finally, in what I found the most moving section we meet Thomas' son, Max, and his family who are dealing with their own troubles with their daughter and, latterly, Thomas health at the time of Covid. This final part is a thoughtful look at the relationships between father and child when health is the all consuming issue.
Ben Lerner has written another wonderful short novel that deals with relationships between fathers, children and those we influence throughout a career. The prose is perfect, the characters are interesting and complex.
I really need to read more of Lerner's work.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Farrar,Strauss and Giroux for the digital review copy.
not-for-me
November 14, 2025so, i was wrong...
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the cover looks vaguely like Universality, which was my favourite read of 2024, so that means this could be my favourite of 2025, right?
---
the cover looks vaguely like Universality, which was my favourite read of 2024, so that means this could be my favourite of 2025, right?
December 7, 2025
Ugh it’s so good when writers write. I love how this is all tangled up in itself.
August 25, 2025
“…Two realities in one space; now I’m unclear which reality was more real.”
Lerner’s novels break open how I think about making meaning out of fiction and out of life, and what happens when the two intersect or overlap. This is animated by a lot of compelling questions, including: how does technology get us closer to and further from objective reality, if there even is such a thing…and, if there is, how much does it matter? How do technologies (including the novel!) help and hinder how we connect with and see each other? That it can ask such big questions, turn them over in several ways, and still feel palpably human all along is Lerner’s real gift.
This is a true stunner that’s well-served by its concision. I ate it up in a rapturous trance. I’m looking forward to reading essays on this when it comes out.
Lerner’s novels break open how I think about making meaning out of fiction and out of life, and what happens when the two intersect or overlap. This is animated by a lot of compelling questions, including: how does technology get us closer to and further from objective reality, if there even is such a thing…and, if there is, how much does it matter? How do technologies (including the novel!) help and hinder how we connect with and see each other? That it can ask such big questions, turn them over in several ways, and still feel palpably human all along is Lerner’s real gift.
This is a true stunner that’s well-served by its concision. I ate it up in a rapturous trance. I’m looking forward to reading essays on this when it comes out.
December 29, 2025
Thought this would be unbearably arch, the sort of novel thrown together while Ben was on sabbatical, but I was surprisingly moved by it. More thoughtful than clever, which isn't always the case with Atocha Station and 10:04. Reminded me of Coetzee's novel Elizabeth Costello, and reminded me of having a smart, remote professor dad.
Read
March 25, 2026really liked this, Lerner’s prose running like a swiss watch. a good look at the capabilities of fiction, its thin places, and some of the better writing i’ve read vis-a-vis iphone doom. but mostly it’s dad stuff
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Männer, die mit ihrer Vaterfigur/ihrem Vater hadern und Probleme mit ihren Töchtern haben; die Interviews heimlich oder gar nicht aufnehmen aber so tun als ob; erfundene Biografien, geteilte Träume und die große Frage der Deutungshoheit: Hier sind viele komplexe Fragen und Themen drin, die teils spannend sind, teils aber auch das Gefühl aufkommen lassen, dass sich Ben Lerner einfach gerne selbst reden hört.
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: #343: Fresh, based, stabil.
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: #343: Fresh, based, stabil.
Read
March 29, 2026I love to see a sub-genre of books emerging whereby what’s driving the characters (and therefore the plot) is ‘oh no I forgot my phone/broke my phone’. This book starts as exactly that but it’s Lerner so it morphs into something much more very quickly. Structured around three hotels, Lerner is asking questions of technology and what it’s doing to us, of fathers and sons, of how we make sense of our relationships. It’s a COVID novel which was a surprise. Despite being 130 pages (for the love of god write shorter books my loves) it is the most thought-provoking work I’ve read in ages.
March 9, 2026
The beginning was a bit of a challenge, but this was well written, with interesting characters and just enough mystery to keep me transfixed. 'Transcription' is mainly about family and fatherhood, but also about our obsession with our digital devices. Very well done.
Thank you Macmillan and Edelweiss for the ARC.
Thank you Macmillan and Edelweiss for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Transcription reminded me a little of Audition by Katie Kitamura, but it was more accessible and touching at the same time. This comparison stems from the subtle shifts in reality between the different sections, even though Lerner presents not only two like Kitamura, but three of them to us.
The first part is titled Hotel Providence. We follow a man on his way to interview Thomas, a legend in his field who is well into his 90s. However, shortly before he leaves the hotel, his phone falls into water, meaning he cannot record the interview. Rather than solving the issue or informing Thomas, he decides to improvise. He ends up with interviewing an old man who is clearly not in full possession of his faculties, and with a conversation that seems to blend different times and people together.
Hotel Villa Real then focuses on the same interviewer, recounting the story in remembrance of Thomas. But what he sees as a self-deprecating, funny narrative becomes a minor scandal for others, who now see this last interview as not only exploitative, but also faked. The question of what constitutes authenticity and dignity comes to the forefront.
The focus shifts again in part three, Hotel Arbez, this time to Thomas's son and his daughter, the latter of whom has great difficulty eating. This Thomas is not a leading expert or a hero in his field, but a loving, albeit distant, grandfather and a father who was never quite able (or willing) to bridge the gap between the emotional needs of his son and himself.
Throughout the stories, technology plays an important role: the image of the presence of the absent and the absence of the present repeats over and over. Questions of language, communication, family, trust and meaning arise.
This novel was a great read: erudite, subtle and quiet. I really appreciated the prose and felt there was much more to discover on a second and third reading. I would highly recommend this to literary readers who enjoy immersing themselves in a book and reflecting on our lives, our communities and technology.
The first part is titled Hotel Providence. We follow a man on his way to interview Thomas, a legend in his field who is well into his 90s. However, shortly before he leaves the hotel, his phone falls into water, meaning he cannot record the interview. Rather than solving the issue or informing Thomas, he decides to improvise. He ends up with interviewing an old man who is clearly not in full possession of his faculties, and with a conversation that seems to blend different times and people together.
Hotel Villa Real then focuses on the same interviewer, recounting the story in remembrance of Thomas. But what he sees as a self-deprecating, funny narrative becomes a minor scandal for others, who now see this last interview as not only exploitative, but also faked. The question of what constitutes authenticity and dignity comes to the forefront.
The focus shifts again in part three, Hotel Arbez, this time to Thomas's son and his daughter, the latter of whom has great difficulty eating. This Thomas is not a leading expert or a hero in his field, but a loving, albeit distant, grandfather and a father who was never quite able (or willing) to bridge the gap between the emotional needs of his son and himself.
Throughout the stories, technology plays an important role: the image of the presence of the absent and the absence of the present repeats over and over. Questions of language, communication, family, trust and meaning arise.
This novel was a great read: erudite, subtle and quiet. I really appreciated the prose and felt there was much more to discover on a second and third reading. I would highly recommend this to literary readers who enjoy immersing themselves in a book and reflecting on our lives, our communities and technology.
November 1, 2025
I was intrigued to read Transcription by Ben Lerner because I enjoyed his poetry book The Lights. This was my first novel by him and I enjoyed it too! I liked the structure to the writing as each chapter is named after a different hotel and takes place in a different time. I enjoyed the dialogue which included texts with abbreviations like Lmk and Ofc. The book begins with a man traveling to interview an author and he has dropped his phone in the sink so he has no way to record the interview. It’s interesting the way we learn about the relationship between the interviewer and the author and then what happens after and the change in point of view and the reflection on that specific interview and the author’s life and relationship with his son and niece. Definitely engaging writing and I’m looking forward to reading more from Lerner.
Thank you to FSG Books via NetGalley for my ARC!
Thank you to FSG Books via NetGalley for my ARC!
September 3, 2025
Maybe this went over my head a bit. I was captivated by the initial setup of the narrator travelling to meet up with Thomas, but after the first night of conversation the story just got dull and went off on a lot of random side stories (this is mainly Thomas telling anecdotes).
August 30, 2025
well... he did again folks.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This was like watching one of those slow arthouse movies where it's torturous to watch but days later you find yourself still thinking about it and all its cleverness.
Transcription is a novel of three parts. The first follows our narrator as he arrives at the home of his old mentor, Thomas, for what will be his final interview. But our narrator has dropped his phone in a sink, his only recording device for the interview, and somehow can't bring himself to let Thomas know. The third part is in the aftermath of Thomas' death, whereby our narrator confesses to not having recorded the final interview, and thereby having to write it from memory. It raises many questions not only of our narrator's credibility, but the question of whether any of it can be considered truth at all. The final section follows Thomas' son Max, talking to our narrator, who admits to having recorded one of his final in-person conversations with his father, unbeknownst to him.
I think Ben Lerner is a very smart man. And he knows it. There is some incredible writing here, but this wasn't an enjoyable reading experience, and despite being oddly compelling at times, it exasperated me more than anything else. I feel I can sense what Lerner was trying to do here, with all the themes of truth, memory, fathers and sons, technology... but perhaps like with the characters of the book, the real meaning of it all eluded me.
Transcription is a novel of three parts. The first follows our narrator as he arrives at the home of his old mentor, Thomas, for what will be his final interview. But our narrator has dropped his phone in a sink, his only recording device for the interview, and somehow can't bring himself to let Thomas know. The third part is in the aftermath of Thomas' death, whereby our narrator confesses to not having recorded the final interview, and thereby having to write it from memory. It raises many questions not only of our narrator's credibility, but the question of whether any of it can be considered truth at all. The final section follows Thomas' son Max, talking to our narrator, who admits to having recorded one of his final in-person conversations with his father, unbeknownst to him.
I think Ben Lerner is a very smart man. And he knows it. There is some incredible writing here, but this wasn't an enjoyable reading experience, and despite being oddly compelling at times, it exasperated me more than anything else. I feel I can sense what Lerner was trying to do here, with all the themes of truth, memory, fathers and sons, technology... but perhaps like with the characters of the book, the real meaning of it all eluded me.
September 2, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an eARC of this novel.
This is a masterclass is brevity. TRANSCRIPTION might be the first great contemporary Post-COVID novel that tackles the nature of societal isolation and fear. I have mostly felt that contemporary novels of the past couple of years have shoehorned in conversations of the pandemic without serving the greater work of art (outside of Greenwell's SMALL RAIN, whose similar use of monologues and chamber storytelling could sit alongside this novel). Into this fear, Lerner interrogates the multifaceted nature of technology: tech that unites us, tech that distracts us, tech that forces our hand. In just 144 pages, he really analyzes the contemporary malaise of the tether to our devices. Ultimately, though, this is a novel of family. In 3 sections, Lerner creates a lush diorama of family in the 21st century, specifically along the father/child dyad. It's complicated and comparative, incredibly compelling until the last sentence. I cannot recommend this (and all of Lerner's fiction) enough. This should practically be required reading as human beings (with iPhones).
TRANSCRIPTION releases April 7, 2026
This is a masterclass is brevity. TRANSCRIPTION might be the first great contemporary Post-COVID novel that tackles the nature of societal isolation and fear. I have mostly felt that contemporary novels of the past couple of years have shoehorned in conversations of the pandemic without serving the greater work of art (outside of Greenwell's SMALL RAIN, whose similar use of monologues and chamber storytelling could sit alongside this novel). Into this fear, Lerner interrogates the multifaceted nature of technology: tech that unites us, tech that distracts us, tech that forces our hand. In just 144 pages, he really analyzes the contemporary malaise of the tether to our devices. Ultimately, though, this is a novel of family. In 3 sections, Lerner creates a lush diorama of family in the 21st century, specifically along the father/child dyad. It's complicated and comparative, incredibly compelling until the last sentence. I cannot recommend this (and all of Lerner's fiction) enough. This should practically be required reading as human beings (with iPhones).
TRANSCRIPTION releases April 7, 2026
December 11, 2025
I love Ben Lerner, I feel he is so underrated in this current time of literature. The writing in this book was up there with some of his best, however the story was by far the least engaging thing he’s ever written in my honest opinion. Someone else might feel differently and connect but the fragmented shortness of this book in general didn’t allow for enough of what he was trying to get across. The first part is strong, the second felt wasted, and the third was a boring, albeit well written, slog.
December 28, 2025
Once again I have been reminded of the Purpose of Art
November 19, 2025
really impressive. I liked how the majority of the book was dialogue. I also, quite frankly, liked how the poetic German professor didn't get to speak that much (initially my heart was sinking - i.e. "is this going to be the whole book?"). A poetic and weird book overall about voices and voice. definitely better than the Topeka school which I barely remember. AI could never write this book, it is way too fragmented and weird, which is a huge testament of the power of literature over The Machine. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
November 17, 2025
these screens, my love, they dull our senses.
part poetry, part erudite commentary, Transcription tackles a collection of timely and complex balancing acts. all three parts center around our yearning for connection in a deeply disconnected world dominated by phone screens, and how this has altered our picture of the “normal” family.
what i love most about transcription lies in the title itself — the novel is a recollection. we are told this story through a collection of memories, many of which are delivered doubtfully or through clouded vision. i’m a sucker for unreliable narrators, and i’d go as far as to say that Lerner has mastered the use of it contextually and thematically.
this is a short read, one that can definitely be devoured in one sitting. i recommend that you do, because it’s definitely worth it.
thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC!
part poetry, part erudite commentary, Transcription tackles a collection of timely and complex balancing acts. all three parts center around our yearning for connection in a deeply disconnected world dominated by phone screens, and how this has altered our picture of the “normal” family.
what i love most about transcription lies in the title itself — the novel is a recollection. we are told this story through a collection of memories, many of which are delivered doubtfully or through clouded vision. i’m a sucker for unreliable narrators, and i’d go as far as to say that Lerner has mastered the use of it contextually and thematically.
this is a short read, one that can definitely be devoured in one sitting. i recommend that you do, because it’s definitely worth it.
thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC!
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August 28, 2025Literature of resonance
August 20, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. The narrator of this book comes to Providence to interview Thomas, his 90 year old mentor and a towering figure in the arts. The narrator drops his smartphone in a sink and is forced to record the interview by written notes and is too mortified to admit this to Thomas. As stressful as this is, Thomas at times also confuses the narrator for his son Max, who is also a friend of the narrator’s. Filled with rich dialogue, this simple story moves forward and slips into surreal moments.
March 18, 2026
A novel very concerned with screens / modern technology and the act of doubling - sometimes holding these ideas seperately and sometimes holding them together. It’s a slim little book and it certainly could’ve been fleshed out more. That said it’s sort of nice not to have all of the dots connected or all of the blanks filled in. Thanks FSG for the galley - Transcription comes out 4/7.
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February 26, 2026My boyfriend who doesn’t want kids has been reading this book to me every night as a bedtime story and it’s cool to hear his voice talking ab being a father. Well everyone agrees it’s not his best work
February 4, 2026
Benny boy does it again
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