10:04 by Ben Lerner

 

This novel is written as a look into the author's life in New York City in his early thirties.  Is it autobiographical or totally imagined?  The protagonist is also an author whose early work was praised and who has a huge advance to write another novel, something he doesn't know if he is ready to do.  

He has issues.  He has been diagnosed with a weak aorta which could burst at any point.  His best friend, a woman, wants his help to get pregnant and if he does, he can choose if he wants to be involved after the birth.  He is sleeping with another woman and it's unclear if he shares his attempt to get his friend pregnant with IVF with her.  He has to get a tooth extracted and he's not sure if he should go for the drugs that put him out entirely or if he should try to go it with regular numbing.  

This was an interesting take on life in New York as an artist.  Lerner started his work life as a poet and was quite successful in that field.  His move to novels has also been greeted with success.  I found this life of a young professional in the city fascinating.  Everyone seems to have multiple appointments every day, meeting with friends, having an assignation with a lover then taking off to hang out with other people.  There are hints of the big money fueling the city with descriptions of luxurious meals and amazing apartments lived in by other people.  The author in the book is so generous with his friends, planning to pay dental costs for his friend and if she becomes pregnant (by IVF treatments he is paying for) to support her and the child.  But at the same time, he puts off work, he is a hypochondriac and can't seem to make decisions about his own love life.  Lerner has won both a MacArthur and a Guggenheim Fellowship and his books have been nominated for literary prizes such as the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.