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_bb 's review for:
Leaving the Atocha Station
by Ben Lerner
Mostly forgettable as a novel.
Yet, it succeeds in touching a nerve, as it might for others who have spent time with in the presence of talented, skilled and poised people. The sensation of self doubt and confusion about one's own merit is captured in a way that wouldn't work as well if the writing was coherent and well crafted. It's appropriate and fitting for a story themed on semi-incompetence to be executed in the same spirit.
Who knows, maybe the whole thing is a half-mocking, self-referential joke that went to far and accidentally got published.
Yet, it succeeds in touching a nerve, as it might for others who have spent time with in the presence of talented, skilled and poised people. The sensation of self doubt and confusion about one's own merit is captured in a way that wouldn't work as well if the writing was coherent and well crafted. It's appropriate and fitting for a story themed on semi-incompetence to be executed in the same spirit.
Who knows, maybe the whole thing is a half-mocking, self-referential joke that went to far and accidentally got published.