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Leaving the Atocha Station
Series: Best of Granta
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 18,578 ratings, 2,228 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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See moreIncluded in the BEST OF GRANTA launch list for 2023: this story of a young American abroad and adrift is a hilarious, intelligent cult classic, from one of the most celebrated contemporary novelists.
Included in the BEST OF GRANTA launch list for 2023: this story of a young American abroad and adrift is a hilarious, intelligent cult classic, from one of the most celebrated contemporary novelists.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
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Description
Adam Gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young American poet on a prestigious fellowship in Madrid, struggling to establish his sense of self and his attitude towards art. Fuelled by strong coffee and self-prescribed tranquillizers, Adam's 'research' soon becomes a meditation on the possibility of authenticity, as he finds himself increasingly troubled by the uncrossable distance between himself and the world around him. It's not just his imperfect grasp of Spanish, but the underlying suspicion that his relationships, his reactions, and his entire personality are just as fraudulent as his poetry.
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Ben Lerner's Leaving the Atocha Station is celebrated for its humour and intelligence, drawing comparisons to both bildungsroman and dark comedy. Critics praise its ability to blend art and existential musings with sharp, witty narration, capturing the essence of a young American poet navigating life in Madrid. The book's insights into creativity and self-awareness have been described as both poignant and hilarious, marking it as a standout debut in contemporary fiction.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781803510040
Publisher: Granta Publications Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 17 August 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Granta Publications Ltd
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 10.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 138g
Pages: 192
About the Author
BEN LERNER was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1979. He has received fellowships from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundations, and is the author of three internationally acclaimed novels, Leaving the Atocha Station, 10:04 and The Topeka School. He has published the poetry collections The Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw (a finalist for the National Book Award), Mean Free Path and No Art as well as the essay The Hatred of Poetry. Lerner lives and teaches in Brooklyn.
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Transcription
The narrator of Ben Lerner's new novel has travelled to Providence, 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. But after the narrator drops his smartphone in the hotel sink, he arrives at Thomas's house with no recording device, a fact he is...PaperbackSold Out -
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The Lights is a constellation of verse and prose, voice memos and vignettes, songs and silences, that brings the personal and the collective into startling relation. These are poems at once alive to the forces that shape human society and to the rhythms of the natural world, to the power of new technologies and the wonder of our timeless planet....PaperbackSold Out -
Transcription
The narrator of Ben Lerner's new novel has travelled to Providence, 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. But after the narrator drops his smartphone in the hotel sink, he arrives at Thomas's house with no recording device, a fact he is...HardbackSold Out -
Leaving the Atocha Station
Leaving the Atocha Station follows Adam Gordon, a brilliant yet highly unreliable young American poet on a prestigious fellowship in Madrid. He struggles to establish his sense of self and his attitude towards art. Fuelled by strong coffee and self-prescribed tranquillizers, Adam's 'research' soon becomes a meditation on the possibility of authenticity. He finds himself increasingly troubled by the uncrossable...PaperbackSold Out
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