Jonathan Franzen

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Jonathan Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist.

Franzen was born in Chicago, Illinois, raised in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, and educated at Swarthmore College. He lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, and writes for The New Yorker magazine.

1 National Book Award
2 TV appearances
3 Works
4 See also
5 External links
6 References
- 6.1 Interviews

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 several unkind remarks. He expressed his irritation at 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Soon afterward, Franzen's invitation to appear on Oprah's show was rescinded, with his "seemingly uncomfortable" attitude being cited as the reason.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 and also won the 2001 National Book Award.

Franzen thanked Oprah in his brief acceptance speech of the National Book Award: "I'd also like to thank Oprah Winfrey for her enthusiasm and advocacy on behalf of The Corrections."

Jonathan Franzen in a promotional image for Moe'N'a Lisa (L to R: Chabon, Franzen, Wolfe, Vidal).

Franzen guest starred alongside Michael Chabon, Tom Wolfe, and Gore Vidal in the Simpsons episode "Moe'N'a Lisa". In the episode, he got into a fist fight with his real life friend Michael Chabon. He was originally supposed to be killed by a giant boulder, but that ending was cut from the final episode. [1]