'... by refusing to hope for the impossible, Franzen, improbably, manages to produce a volume that feels, if not hopeful, then at least not hopeless. There's nothing he can do - there's probably nothing any of us can do - to avert or even alleviate the coming catastrophe. But for now, he's here and he's alive, and over the course of these essays he offers us a series of partial, tentative answers to the question he poses himself at the beginning: " How do we find meaning in our actions when the world seems to be coming to an end?" Guardian
'Can be read, in part, as a welcome alternative to the current, dominant American political tone of one-note belligerence' Observer
'Franzen shows himself to be the kind of unacademic critic who recognises and does not disapprove of the Common Reader's natural tendency to feel for the characters the author has brought into being' Scotsman
Praise for Jonathan Franzen:
'A literary genius for our time' Guardian
'Arguably America's greatest living novelist' Daily Telegraph
'Franzen is that rare bird: a literary novelist of the highest distinction who has also become one of the bestsellers of the age' Evening Standard
'Franzen's words crackle with wit humour and wisdom' Shortlist
Franzen, Jonathan
Jonathan Franzen's work includes four novels (The Twenty-Seventh City, Strong Motion, The Corrections, Freedom), two collections of essays (Farther Away, How To Be Alone), a memoir (The Discomfort Zone), and, most recently, The Kraus Project. He is recognised as one of the best American writers of our age and has won many awards. He lives in New York City and Santa Cruz, California.