Jonathan Franzen
American novelist whose social realist epics anatomize American family life and culture with dark humor and moral ambition. The Corrections became a cultural event and a defining novel of its era. He has been a polarizing but unavoidable presence in American literary culture.
Works
- The Twenty-Seventh CityCrime and conspiracy in Saint Louis political and urban landscape
- Strong MotionGeological catastrophe and family destruction in New England
- The CorrectionsMidwest family unraveling through depression, dependence, and decay
- FreedomEnvironmental activism, marriage, and conscience in contemporary America
- PurityInterconnected lives of idealism, betrayal, and personal journalism
- The Kraus ProjectEssays pairing Karl Kraus's cultural criticism with contemporary commentary
- CrossroadsMidwestern family saga spanning generations of quiet spiritual search
- The Discomfort ZoneMemoir of shame, family dysfunction, and Midwestern self-awareness