A review by longcommutelit
Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner

5.0

UGH. Gutted to be finishing the last of Lerner’s novels for now, but what a great one to end on. Was reading the reviews and the criticisms are mostly centered on how insufferable Adam Gordon is as a character (aka Ben Lerner lol). It helps to have read Topeka School first with a younger Adam, but despite how terrible he could be, there was something so unmistakably human in his flaws. The story is less about a character as a fraud and more so about an artist reconciling with the importance of the story he puts forth in the face of every other human’s experience.