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Fiction

Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner
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Leaving the Atocha Station

by Ben Lerner

Ben Lerner’s debut novel, which won the 2011 Believer Award, follows a young poet over the course of a year-long Fulbright scholarship in Madrid. Praised for both its humour and intelligence, Leaving the Atocha Station offers both a biting satire of the art world, and a vivid insight into the anxieties of the creative process.

Five Books review

This smart, self-deprecating novel is a thinly veiled portrait of the author as he struggles with imposter syndrome (verging on a total breakdown) during a prestigious fellowship overseas. Merciless in his forensic analysis of social interaction and his skewering of his own pretension, it’s also a clever exploration what can be lost and found in translation between two languages and cultures.

Cal FlynCal Flyn, Deputy editor

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