Jonathan Franzen at Skidmore
Author Jonathan Franzen will be at Skidmore October 3 for a reading and discussion. The event is free and open to the public.
Franzen is among the most famous and acclaimed American writers. His 2011 novel The Corrections won multiple awards, he's feuded with Oprah, writes for the New Yorker, and Time put him on its cover a few years back -- pegged to the release of his novel Freedom -- with the headline "Great American Novelist." He's also acquired a rep for being kind of cranky -- because of the Oprah situation, and comments such as calling Twitter "unspeakably irritating," As Flavorwire wondered last month, has Franzen become an easy target for being tagged a curmudgeon "or is he just simply a jerk?"
Last year Franzen released a collection of essays that had been previously published in outlets such as the New Yorker, NYT, the Guardian. And he has a book of translations of essays by a turn-of-the-20th-century Austrian satirist coming out in October.
The Skidmore event is titled: "The Novel and The World -- A Reading and Discussion." It starts at 8 pm in the Palamountain Hall Gannett Auditorium. The event is part of the ongoing Steloff Lecture series, which included Zadie Smith last year.
Earlier on AOA: NYS Writers Institute visiting writers fall 2013
photo: Greg Martin
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Comments
Simply a jerk
And The Corrections is boring.
TIME put George W Bush on their cover. This isn't something one should list as an accomplishment.
... said Ghost of DFW on Sep 9, 2013 at 3:45 PM | link
I don't know, Ghost. I haven't read "The Corrections" yet, but I enjoyed "Freedom." However, I don't consider Franzen to be the Tolstoy of our times, though apparently Franzen does. So self-esteem problems there.
... said chrisck on Sep 9, 2013 at 5:08 PM | link
oops -- that's "No self-esteem problems there."
... said chrisck on Sep 10, 2013 at 4:21 AM | link