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10:04

a Novel
Jul 27, 2015lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Maybe because I'm an over-educated, over-privileged white liberal arts guy, but I often don't like contemporary novels by over-educated, privileged white guys, all of whom seem to live in Brooklyn and are named Jonathan. So I was surprised that I really enjoyed Ben Lerner's debut novel, "Leaving the Atocha Station." On the surface, it seemed hackneyed. The elements were familiar: an American writer living in Spain smokes, drinks, and loves too much while ignoring his work. Yet Lerner, who trained as a poet, made something fresh, funny, and insightful out of these overused elements. Conversely, his second novel second novel, "10:04, strives harder for novelty, but ends up feeling very much like other novels by younger New York writers (mostly named Jonathan). While it's often, but not always, a mistake to confuse the protagonist with the author, you can't help but notice a few similarities (writers from Kansas), which gives the book a Philip Roth-like meta level that doesn't really work. In "Atocha," dark reality intruded in the form of the 2005 Madrid Bombing, while here it's Hurrican Sandy. There's also a lot about art, which I found a little annoying. At it's worst it's self-indulgent and overly self-aware, like a better written Tao Lin book. And it's illustrated. Lerner's a better, smarter writer than many of his peers, but this was a let down. The title references "Back to the Future."