http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780374173272-10 : Years ago I read Franzen's The Corrections after the whole Oprah Book Club debacle. I hated it. So, I was a little reluctant to read his book of essays. But, I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of how I really disliked Richard Ford's novel The Sportswriter, but I loved his collection of short stories Multitude of Sins. I guess some authors are just better to some readers in different genres. The 14 different essays in the collection explore the idea of being alone in a world full of people. The first essay concerning his father's Alzheimers is incredible. He has a number of essays, including his famed "Harper's Essay" that explore the fate of the modern novel and what it means to be a writer in an increasingly non-literary world. Franzen is pretentious and strikes me as a little too into his suffering as a genius the world can't yet appreciate, but he has some nice perspectives on the United States Postal Service, American prison culture, and technology. I wouldn't read these all at once, but piece by piece, Franzen is well worth spending some time alone with.
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