If you haven’t seen it already, in today’s New York Times David Brooks criticizes Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom as a book that “tells us more about America’s literary culture than about America itself,” which, true or not, he views to be a bad thing.
It’s not the first time that Brooks has summoned a Read More
Oprah Winfrey has announced her next book club selection on her website ahead of her show today. As it was widely reported yesterday, it’s Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom.
Before the rumors started flying, the possibility of Ms. Winfrey selecting the book seemed slim, thanks to a public falling out between the TV host and Read More
“I’m on my way to something I was supposed to be at an hour ago,” said the fashion journalist Zandile Blay on Monday night. “It’s Fashion Week and I’ve basically missed every single show I had, with the exception of one.”
She had wanted to go to the Betsey Johnson show. And the Alexander Herchovitch Read More
Jonathan Franzen gave an interview to the Santa Cruz Sentinel in advance of a reading he’s giving in that city on Sept. 1. Franzen lives part of the year in Santa Cruz, so naturally the interview ranged over his experience living there. Franzen also talked about recognition he’s received and how little it Read More
Times Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus assigned himself to review the new Jonathan Franzen book, Freedom, and it’s a monster of a review. Like Michiko Kakutani, he’s a fan. It’s a “masterpiece,” he wrote. Mr. Tanenhaus goes bananas over Franzen, and here are some choice sentences to give you a taste of Mr. Tanenhaus’ 2,973 Read More
As Sam Anderson recently noted in his review of Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, Freedom, “Franzen still appears, every once in a while, in the guise of a public crank, fulminating about cell phones and SUVs and (most recently) the slaughter of migratory birds.”
That crank is Walter Berglund, the nature-loving main character whose Read More
