"Ben Lerner expressed ambivalence about interviewing his mentor, Rosmarie Waldrop, noting her remarkable honesty and the challenge of capturing her voice accurately. He stated, 'Rosmarie is amazing. She's a hero of mine. But she's not very easy to interview, in part because one of her remarkable characteristics is she doesn't just bullshit.'"
"Lerner's book, Transcription, is described as a hybrid that fuses poetry, fiction, and essays into a haunting narrative. Its editor, Mitzi Angel, refers to it as a 'séance,' emphasizing its unique structure and thematic depth."
"Reflecting on the nature of authorial voice, Lerner remarked, 'I was thinking about the degree to which the voice of an author is really fiction, because there's all this editing and moving stuff around, and so you end up with a document that bears little relation to the actual conversation.'"
Transcription, Ben Lerner's new book, is a hybrid work that blends poetry, fiction, and essays. It features an unnamed narrator and delves into themes of fatherhood and middle age. Lerner reflects on the challenges of interviewing his mentor, Rosmarie Waldrop, noting that the voice of an author often differs from the actual conversation due to editing. The book is described as a 'séance' by its editor, Mitzi Angel, and is structured in three parts, highlighting the intricacies of communication and representation.
Read at Vulture
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]