Jonathan Franzen

Infobox Writer
name = Jonathan Franzen

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imagesize = 200px
caption = Franzen at the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival.
pseudonym =
birthdate = birth date and age |1959|8|17|mf=y
birthplace = Chicago, Illinois
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Novelist, essayist
nationality = USA
period = 1988 - present
genre = Literary fiction
subject =
movement =
Hysterical realism
debut_works = "The Twenty-Seventh City" (1988)
influences =
influenced =


website = http://www.jonathanfranzen.com/
footnotes =

Jonathan Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an award-winning 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.

"The Corrections"

Franzen's "The Corrections", a novel of social criticism, garnered considerable critical acclaim in the United States.

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. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the Oprah insignia being printed on his book by saying, "I see this as my book, my creation, and I didn't want that logo of corporate ownership on it." Soon afterward, Franzen's invitation to appear on Oprah's show was rescinded, [cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/01/20/1137553745680.html|date=2006-01-21|accessdate=2007-04-04| title="You go, girl . . . and she went"|work=The Age] with his "seemingly uncomfortable" [cite web|url=http://www.oprah.com/obc/pastbooks/jonathan_franzen/obc_user_communication.jhtml|title=Oprah's Book Club user communication, October 22, 2001] attitude being cited as the reason.

Although the controversy arguably caused damage to Franzen's reputation, it 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 and won both the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2002 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. 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"." [cite web|url=http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_jfranzen.html|date=2001|accessdate=2007-04-04| title="National Book Awards Acceptance Speeches: Jonathan Franzen"|work=National Book Foundation]

TV appearances

*Franzen guest starred alongside Michael Chabon, Tom Wolfe, and Gore Vidal in the "Simpsons" episode "Moe'N'a Lisa", which originally aired 19 November 2006. In the episode, he got into a fistfight with his real-life friend Chabon. [cite web| url=http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNzcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4NDgxMDImeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1'| date=2006-01-03|accessdate=2007-04-04| title=" High culture in Springfield" by Steven Barrie-Anthony|work=Los Angeles Times archived at North Jersey Media Group] Franzen, Chabon, and Wolfe were originally supposed to be killed by a giant boulder, but that ending was cut.

Works

Novels

*1988 "The Twenty-Seventh City"
*1992 "Strong Motion"
*2001 "The Corrections"

Non-fiction

*2002 "How to Be Alone" (essays)
*2006 "The Discomfort Zone" (memoir)

See also

*Hysterical realism

References

External links

* [http://www.jonathanfranzen.com/ Jonathan Franzen's website]
* [http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_jfranzen.html National Book Award acceptance speech]
* [http://www.granta.com/Magazine/82/Envy/1 Essay by Franzen's girlfriend, Kathryn Chetkovich, about living with a writer] from Granta

Interviews

* [http://www.bombsite.com/franzen/franzen.html An interview with Donald Antrim] from "Bomb Magazine"
* [http://www.salon.com/books/int/2001/09/07/franzen/index.html An interview with Laura Miller] from Salon.com, September 7, 2001
* [http://www.powells.com/authors/franzen.html An interview with Dave Weich] from Powells.com, October 4, 2001
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/10/17/jonathan.franze/ An Interview with Todd Leopold] from CNN.com, October 18, 2001
* [http://www.signandsight.com/features/321.html An interview with Bernadette Conrad] from "Die Zeit", at sightandsign.com, August 4, 2005
* [http://www.bigthink.com/user/jonathan-franzen Answering Viewers' Questions at Big Think] from April 14, 2008

Persondata
NAME=Franzen, Jonathan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Novelist
DATE OF BIRTH=August 17, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH=Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=