10:04

By: Ben Lerner

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

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. 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.

©2014 Ben Lerner (P)2014 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Masterful, young voice

If you could sum up 10:04 in three words, what would they be?

Masterful young voice

What did you like best about this story?

Subtle poetic phrasing and a self-deprecating tone combine to make this a totally engaging story.

Which character – as performed by Eric Michael Summerer – was your favorite?

The protagonist is my favorite. He bumbles his way through life with a positive attitude.

Any additional comments?

The book is consistently focused on typical life experiences, covering a wide range from birth to death without being overbearing or pretentious.

The erudite language is intended to be annoying.

I didn’t feel connected to the characters or the story but I admire Ben Lerner’s ability to evoke the Uber—cool world of Brooklyn and the artistes there in.

Modern

Loved this! So modern such great prose. Bravo to Ben Lerner! Just a wonderful listen.

Perhaps The Most Influential Book I've Ever Read

10:04 changed my life. I've never identified so closely to an author in my entire life and for the first time in my existence I feel as though I may not be as alone as I feel.

The author as octopus poet

Ben Lerner gives us, his and Whitman's"you," a novel of walking and talking with a mind as sieve, straining out frightened emotions through the ink clouds of the overactive protection of intellect. A fine novel from a strong poet.

Into the Future

This is a brilliant story about modern life. Lerner has honed his art to perfection in the book and I was in awe as I listened to this tale which captures the vast ambiguities and uncertainties of life in America today.

A novel worth reading

Any additional comments?

A couple of things. First is that I completely disagree with the other reviewer. He sort of looked past the writing and was more interested in trying to ascribe what was and wasn’t from Ben Lerner’s real life. Anyone interested in fiction knows that is unfair. Maybe Lerner invites the distraction given the narrative ambiguity about where the novel actually comes from. In any case, it’s beside the point and the most dull reaction you can have to sit and write a review guessing what might be the real Ben Lerner. Who cares?

I admit it took more than a minute for me to get into the novel. In retrospect, I’m not even sure when it fully had me or if it ever fully had me. it’s not for everyone. It’s intellectual. It can be dry. And there is a level of personal and philosophical self absorption that makes sense in context, but will piss off some people who have a narrow sense of what it means to be humble.

A big part of Lerner’s novel is dissecting how an artist processes life material to his art, which is by far the most interesting part. I suspect there is some autobiography in there and some completely made up stuff. Some recent history in NYC. It’s a stew of things. If you’re interested in a plot heavy journey where a character finds answers to flaws and changes forever, you probably won’t like this novel (although aspects of that kind of journey are in here).

If you ever tried to write a story or a novel, if you are a literary person, you’ll find something to latch onto here. It’s worthwhile. Literary. And I’m glad I read it. That’s about all. Don’t expect Ben Lerner’s autobiography though.

Too Much of Himself

This well-received quasi-novel focuses on a guy a lot like Ben Lerner, I guess. Other readers found it brilliant, but I found it too self-satisfied and too self-indulgent. There are lots of scenes around New York that show off his cleverness and sensitivity, at dinner parties and natural history museums and lunch with his agent and fertility clinics. But only one character struck me as real: Mr. Lerner himself. The others were one-dimensional mirrors for the narrator, not much more. (One exception: his colleague at the Park Slope Food Coop, who tells the narrator a surprising and suspenseful story about her family history, interrupted by Ben's having to deliver the dried mango he's been packing to the sales floor.)

I have one suspicion, that a story late in the novel about an intern at a literary retreat in Marfa whom the narrator comforts through a bad drug trip...was this based upon an adventure in which Mr. Lerner was the intern and not the comforting older figure? But a bad trip, was that too cliched and uncool for our narrator? Who knows. It's a novel.

The book was well-read by Eric Michael Summerer.

Self indulgent drivel

Would you try another book from Ben Lerner and/or Eric Michael Summerer?

Please don't bother with this book, it is just full of self serving drivel, it seems that the writer wrote this for himself.
There is no plot, no story, nothing happens....

Not for me

I had a hard time getting into this book. it's very slow moving and dry.