10:04 is most interesting in its plot line - the story is based on a short story, and, in the novel version of the story, a narrator struggles to write a novel based on a short story about an author writing a novel based on a short story. Pretty confusing, right? What makes the plot more difficult to interpret is the fact that the narrator/author is never named, so it is hard to know what the narrator, author, or narrator of the book the narrator is authoring, is thinking.
The narrator has been diagnosed with a serious heart condition, which may or not be fatal. However, the likelihood of its fatality increases as he gives in to the condition, practically giving up on life more every day. This sense of losing faith is happening both because of the condition, his struggle to write a successful novel, and the storm sweeping his way all across New York. The storm, which he believes was caused by global warming, is an alarming environmental threat to him.
The short story that the narrator is writing is called "The Golden Vanity". In it, an unnamed narrator lets large publishing companies bid on his short story to be turned into a novel. This represents the life of the main narrator, however, no one is bidding for his short story (perhaps they think that he is pressuring them a little too hard by writing a novel about what they think he thinks they'll do).
The narrator travels to Texas to clear his writer's block, but it doesn't work - he ends up writing the novelist's worst fear - poetry. He goes to a party and, without thinking about his health, takes drugs and alcohol. This almost kills him, and his heart condition has become worse. The storm has finally hit New York, causing a blackout and -
Suddenly, Ben Lerner, the author of the book, appears out of nowhere, walking through the darkened New York City. He speaks directly to readers in a mystic sort of way about his writing, leaving readers perhaps even more confused than when they began the novel.
