Franzen, Jonathan (1959-…), is an American author best known for his novel The Corrections (2001). The story tells about two generations of the offbeat and troubled Lambert family—father Alfred, mother Enid, and their three adult children Chip, Denise, and Gary. The novel is filled with exuberant humor, engrossing storytelling, and satiric commentary about such topics as American culture and international politics. Critics have praised the novel’s imaginative use of language and many colorful characters.
Franzen’s first book was the novel The Twenty-seventh City (1988). The story is set in a fictionalized version of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1984. The central character is a woman police chief from Bombay (now Mumbai), India. She claims she wants to revive the seedy downtown area of St. Louis, but she may also be a terrorist. Franzen’s next novel, Strong Motion (1992), takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, which has been shaken by a series of earthquakes. The two young adult central characters discover that the earthquakes are caused by a chemical company’s waste deposits. Freedom (2010) is both the story of a troubled American family and a portrait of American society in the early 2000’s. Purity (2015) follows the adventures of young Pip (Purity) Tyler as she tries to establish her sense of personal identity by locating her long-absent father. Set in the early 1970’s, Crossroads (2021) introduces a family from a fictional suburb of Chicago and the pivotal decisions confronting each of its members.
Franzen has written three works of nonfiction. How to Be Alone (2002) is a collection of essays that examine such topics as the American novel, the United States Postal Service, the tobacco industry, personal privacy, and his father’s fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Franzen’s memoir The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History (2006) concentrates on his growing up during the 1960’s and 1970’s, his romantic troubles with women, his pursuit of a writing career, and his hobby of bird watching. A second collection of essays, Farther Away (2012), includes a commencement address, a personal essay, travel pieces, and several appreciations of Franzen’s favorite modern authors.
Franzen was born on Aug. 17, 1959, in Western Springs, Illinois, but grew up in a suburb of St. Louis. He graduated with a B.A. degree from Swarthmore College in 1981. He worked part-time in a seismology laboratory at Harvard University from 1983 to 1987 before becoming a full-time writer.
