Barbara J. Haveland

Cover image for Transcription by Ben Lerner

Books to Look Out For in April 2026: Part One

The first instalment of April’s preview begins with two I’ve already read. Divided into three parts, Ben Lerner’s Transcription follows an unnamed narrator who knocks his phone into a filled washbasin while preparing to interview his mentor, the father of Max, his best friend. Setting off fretfully to Thomas’s house, he finds him disconcertingly altered. […]

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Cover image for On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle

On the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej Balle (transl. Barbara J. Haveland): Here we go again

Recently shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize, the first book in Solvej Balle’s septology comes garlanded with praise from a wide range of writers including Jon McGregor whose endorsement swung it for me; that and its intriguing premise. On the Calculation of Volume 1 follows Tara Selter who wakes up every morning to find

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