technology
Ben Lerner Discusses New Novel Transcription in Interview with The New Yorker
Ben Lerner, author of the novel Transcription, spoke with a New Yorker interviewer about themes including interviewing, smartphones, and fiction's role in capturing experiences. The book follows a writer interviewing his mentor, Thomas, a composite character inspired by real figures like Rosmarie Waldrop and Alexander Kluge.
Apr 5, 6:00 AM·3m read1 source
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Ben Lerner's novel Transcription centers on a middle-aged writer traveling to interview his mentor, Thomas, an eminent artist and scholar near the end of his life. Thomas is described as protean, stubborn, aging yet ageless, and difficult to pin down.
The character draws from several of Lerner's real mentors, including poet Rosmarie Waldrop and filmmaker Alexander Kluge, both born in Germany. En route to Thomas's house, the narrator breaks his phone, preventing him from recording the interview. Throughout the novel, characters experience mishearing, misremembering, and missing each other's attempts at connection.
The New Yorker reported that earlier this year, Alexander Kluge, aged 94, read an advance copy of Transcription. In an email to Lerner, Kluge wrote, “I am impressed by this text. I find it friendly but also very independent and poetical. The text had not only to do with me but with both of us .
. . You write at the end of your message, with love. ” Kluge died two weeks later. This event provided emotional closure that contrasted with the novel's themes of missed connections.
Lerner conducted an interview with a New Yorker staff member in the interviewer's Brooklyn living room. The discussion covered Transcription, President Trump, the interviewees' late grandmothers, and the rise of AI chatbots. Items on the table included mugs of black coffee, which both consumed and refilled, and a plate of dates and pastries, which neither touched, along with an audio recorder.
The interview was edited for length and clarity.
During the conversation, the interviewer offered Lerner flexibility to take parts off the record to allow free speaking, citing their personal acquaintance to avoid inadvertently publicizing private remarks. Lerner responded that he felt at ease and could ask anything.
