Jonathan Franzen (born
August 17,
1959) is an
American novelist and
essayist.
Early life and education
Franzen was born in
Chicago,
Illinois, raised in
Webster Groves, a suburb of
St. Louis,
Missouri, and educated at
Swarthmore College. He also studied on a
Fulbright Scholarship in
Germany. He lives on the
Upper East Side of
New York City, and writes for
The New Yorker magazine.
First two novels
The Twenty-Seventh City, published in 1988, is set in Franzen's hometown, St Louis, and deals with the city's fall from grace, its having been the "fourth city" in the 1870s. This sprawling novel was warmly received, and established Franzen as an author to watch.
Strong Motion (1992) focuses on a dysfunctional family, the Hollands, and uses
seismic events on the American East Coast as a metaphor for the quakes that occur in family life.
The Corrections
Franzen's
The Corrections, a novel of social criticism, garnered considerable critical acclaim in the United States, winning both the 2001
National Book Award for Fiction and the 2002
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
In September 2001,
The Corrections was selected for
Oprah Winfrey's book club. Franzen was, at the time, willing to participate in the selection, appearing in
B-roll footage in his hometown of St. Louis (described in an essay in
How To Be Alone entitled "Meet Me In St. Louis") and sitting down for a lengthy interview with Oprah. In October 2001, however,
The Oregonian printed an article in which Franzen made remarks expressing unease with the selection. In an interview on National Public Radio's
Fresh Air, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the Oprah insignia being printed on his book by saying that he was still conflicted about Oprah because — well, "So much of reading is sustained in this country, I think, by the fact that women read while men are off golfing or watching football on TV or playing with their flight simulator or whatever. I worry — I'm sorry that it's, uh — I had some hope of actually reaching a male audience and I've heard more than one reader in signing lines now at bookstores say 'If I hadn't heard you, I would have been put off by the fact that it is an Oprah pick. I figure those books are for women. I would never touch it.' Those are male readers speaking. I see this as my book, my creation." Soon afterward, Franzen's invitation to appear on Oprah's show was rescinded. Winfrey announced, "Jonathan Franzen will not be on the Oprah Winfrey show because he is seemingly uncomfortable and conflicted about being chosen as a book club selection. It is never my intention to make anyone uncomfortable or cause anyone conflict. We have decided to skip the dinner and we're moving on to the next book."
The controversy had little effect on the sales of
The Corrections, which became one of the best-selling works of literary fiction of the 21st century so far. At the NBA ceremony Franzen thanked Oprah in his brief acceptance speech: "I'd also like to thank Oprah Winfrey for her enthusiasm and advocacy on behalf of
The Corrections."
Non-fiction
Since
The Corrections Franzen has published
How to Be Alone (2002), a collection of essays including "Perchance To Dream", and
The Discomfort Zone (2006), a memoir.
How To Be Alone is essentially an apologia for reading, articulating Franzen's uncomfortable relationship with the place of fiction in contemporary society. It also probes the influence of his childhood and adolescence on his creative life, which is then further explored in
The Discomfort Zone.
Translations
In September 2007, Franzen's translation of
Frank Wedekind's play
Spring Awakening () was published. In his introduction, Franzen describes the
Broadway musical version as "insipid" and "overpraised." In an interview with
New York magazine, Franzen stated that he had in fact made the translation for Swarthmore College's theater department for $50 in 1986, and that it had sat in a drawer for 20 years since. After the Broadway show stirred up so much interest, Franzen said he was inspired to publish it because "I knew it was a good translation, better than anything else out there."
TV appearances
- Franzen made an appearance on Charlie Rose in 1996 with fiction authors David Foster Wallace and Mark Leyner to discuss the effects of electronic media on the role of fiction in society.
Freedom
Following the success of
The Corrections and the publication of
The Discomfort Zone and
How To Be Alone, Franzen began work on his next novel. In the interim, he published two short stories in
The New Yorker: "Breakup Stories", published November 8, 2004, concerned the disintergration of four relationships; and "Two's Company", published May 23, 2005, concerned a couple who writes for TV, then splits up..
On June 8, 2009, Franzen published an extract from his work-in-progress fourth novel,
Freedom, in
The New Yorker. The extract, titled "Good Neighbors", concerned the trials and tribulations of a couple in
St. Paul, Minnesota. Apart from this extract, little is known about the content of the novel, although Franzen has revealed that there will be a German aspect to
Freedom, remarking to TV moderator Maybrit Illner, as reported in the Berlin daily
Berliner Morgenpost, that "The Federal Republic [of Germany] will play an important role in the novel." Franzen spent the academic year 1981/82 in Berlin.
On October 16, 2009, Franzen made an appearance alongside David Bezmozgis at the
New Yorker Festival at the Cedar Lake Theatre to read a portion of his forthcoming novel. Sam Allard, writing for North By Northwestern website covering the event, said that the "...material from his new (reportedly massive) novel" was "as buoyant and compelling as ever" and "marked by his familiar undercurrent of tragedy". Franzen read "an extended clip from the second chapter."
Awards and nominations
- 1988 Whiting Writers' Award
- 1996 Granta's Best Of Young American Novelists
- 2001 New York Times Best Books of the Year
- 2001 Salon Book Award (Fiction)
- 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist (Fiction)
- 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award finalist
- 2003 International IMPAC Dublin (Shortlist)
Works
Novels
Non-fiction
Translations
See also
