Alan Cheuse‘s review of Jonathan Franzen‘s much-anticipated new novel, Freedom, appeared on All Things Considered yesterday…and begs the question of what kind of compassion we look for in novels.
NPR Reviews the New Franzen
PEN Literary Awards Shortlist
PEN America has announced the shortlist of this year’s PEN literary awards. The 2016 finalists include Millions contributors Angela Flournoy, Katrina Dodson, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and David L. Ulin, among others.
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The Harper Lee Industry Chugs On
Thirty-eight letters written from the To Kill a Mockingbird author to a friend from 2005-2010 are up for auction this week, including Harper Lee's reaction to Barack Obama's inauguration. See also: this close reading of the birds themselves.
Cuppa?
"Tea has started wars and ruined lives; we should be wary of its consolations." On the problem with tea.
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High Praise for Rebecca Solnit
In a new issue of N1BR, Nikil Saval takes a look at Rebecca Solnit's latest, calling its predecessor River of Shadows "surely one of the best books of the past decade."
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The Limits of Speed
Chuck Klosterman wonders whether or not the fastest human ever may have already been born.
Famous in India
“His writings rarely make it to the US, and are resolutely for an Indian readership. They will win no prizes nor inspire dissertations. But for these reasons they represent the actuality of what many people in the world are reading today, outside of the newly sanctified category of the 'global novel.'” Ulka Anjaria for Public Books on Chetan Bhagat, “possibly the most successful Indian English novelist ever” and largely unheard of in the west. For more fictional Desi perspectives, read Aditya Desai in our own pages on reading narratives of Indian women.
Back to the Bookstore
The Guardian reports that Kinokuniya, a Japanese book chain, has bought 90 percent of the print run of Haruki Murakami’s latest essay collection, Novelist As a Vocation, to be released September 10th in Japan. The company hopes to bring more customers back into bookstores. Need more Murakami? Read our review of The Strange Library.
I look forward to reading “Freedom,” but with some unease, because Cheuse (and other things I’ve read) make it sound as if Franzen is repeating himself — the new book appears to be very much in the same vein as The Corrections; i.e., another satire of middle-class life. He did it so well the first time, that the second go-round will almost certainly be a disappointment. It’s a safe choice of subject matter, and I hadn’t thought of Franzen as a safe writer up till now.
It’s a horrible review that though – doesn’t really say a great deal. Excited to read this, but agree a little with Tom – sounds like Franzen is in his safety zone here…